STF

FPT-LS: Andromeda's Curse - Negotiation - Ferengi onboard

Posted Sept. 16, 2020, 12:19 p.m. by Lieutenant Fey Kastil (Chief Medical Officer) (Brian Armstrong)

Posted by Lieutenant Andrea Stone (Chief of Security) in FPT-LS: Andromeda’s Curse - Negotiation - Ferengi onboard

Posted by Captain Zachariah Cobb (Commanding Officer) in FPT-LS: Andromeda’s Curse - Negotiation - Ferengi onboard

Posted by Lieutenant Casela Synthi-er (Counsellor / RTF) in FPT-LS: Andromeda’s Curse - Negotiation - Ferengi onboard
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻
(snip)
Stone kept her attention on their guests at all times. She didn’t quite agree with the captain that it was wise to show their guests what secrets they were trying to unlock. Most of this was confidential even to ST members and people. The Ferengi only showed interest in things they could profit in.
She tried to think and understand why captain was showing them all these. Perhaps he would try to convince them, they can deal with the anomaly better then they can, and later share the findings? As far as she understood, they didn’t know much about the anomaly and what it does as well.

Lt. Andrea Stone, COS

Borrick hissed and yelled in that classic barbarian Ferengi way when something whole strange and mystical happens in front of them. Olash glared at him, but his own face was rather pale at the sight of this cloud that was burning the flesh off the humanoid below using ice. Olash and Zanic both feeling quite a bit of unease wondering if Cobb had brought them on board to torture them. Zanic whispered to the DaiMon, “Rule 15. Dead men make no deals.”

All Olash could think was that he must not give his thoughts away. Rule of Acquisition 85: Never let the competition know what yo are thinking, “An interesting way to keep your crew in line, Captain.”
DaiMon Olash
Negotiator Zanic

Zachariah’s face registered no outward emotion, although internally, he was delighted that his plan was working. Borrick and Zanic appeared sufficiently spooked and, while Olash was taking care to maintain a poker face, Cobb wasn’t buying it for a second.
“I have no need to keep ‘em in line, Mr Olash,” he replied, solemnly. “Fear does that job for me. Fear of these things we are ordered to fight. Like your artifact.”

The Ferengi had already seen far more than he intended. It was time to change tack for a while, allow Dr Kastil and her sister’s baked delights play good cop to the ARU’s bad. Marching ahead once again, Cobb led the way to the end of the walkway and into a small office, usually the domain of the Containment Shift Leader but currently vacant due to the accident below them.

“Please,” the captain gestured to several chairs dotted around the room, “make yourselves comfortable and we shall organise some refreshments. Never let mortal danger get in the way of a good cup of tea and some cake, eh?”

Then, leaving Kastil to settle their guests for a moment, he beckoned Stone to one side. Cobb had caught a flash of doubt in the Security Chief’s eyes and he needed to be sure she was on board with his plan. This was a house of cards so precarious that it could collapse at any moment and he had no chance of maintaining it without her help.
“I have nothing to barter with except fear,” he whispered. “I need for those Ferengi to hand over the artifact and run back to the Alliance with their tails between their legs. And the only way I can think of to do that is by showing them the bare, unfiltered truth. There are things in this universe far more treacherous than a missed opportunity for profit, Miss Stone. I just hope I can convince our guests to agree.”

  • Captain Zachariah Cobb

She nodded, as she thought she knew what captain was planning to do. Perhaps she didn’t like how the captain was handling things, but she trusted him completely. He fought in wars and came out alive, so what he did must be right. Her way would probably involve showcasing the firepower they had which might end up bloodier.

“Sir, if we manage to convince them, that we know what we are doing when it comes to artefacts without revealing too much information… well they don’t look like someone willing to get their hands dirty to get the job done. Specially when there might be someone else willing to do the job for them. If we share the information about our findings, it could be enough for them to think they made profit. I wouldn’t disclose something that might get weaponized. But I guess we can deal with that later. Getting Einstein out of here and well ourselves and away teams should be top priority.”

Lt. Andrea Stone, COS

“Aye,” Cobb nodded his appreciation for Stone’s suggestion. “Aye. Information is a valuable resource, Miss Stone. You are absolutely right about that! And our guests are no fools. The question now,” he continued, beginning to lead his Security Chief back towards the office, “is, what words do we offer that glitter like latinum, but in daylight prove only to be fool’s gold?”

Then, joining with their Ferengi visitors once again, the captain turned his attention to Kastil. “Now then, Doctor, how are those refreshments coming along, eh? It’s small comfort against this information I have no choice but to share,” and here he threw an apologetic expression at Olash and his men, “but even the smallest of comforts can be a blessing when it matters.”

  • Captain Zachariah Cobb

During the discussion between the Captain and the Chief of Security, the Doctor had made sure to provide adequate Ferengi cuisine for the guests along with a number of her sister’s confectionaries that wouldn’t upset their stomachs unless they ate too much. Each Ferengi was served a large portion of snail steak to go along with the confectionaries as well as a paired wine to dull the senses ever so slightly. “I would say the refreshments are going over well and will lead to great opportunity for productive trade.”

  • Doctor Fey Kastil

Borrick was indulging far too much. Even for a Ferengi he was very much a coward. DaiMon Olash wiped his mouth after indulging only moderately in the food. “You prepare a very good meal, Doctor. One worthy of serious negotiations.” Olash nodded toward Zanic. Not that Zanic needed his approval to negotiate his own deals. And in fact Olash had built quite the reputations with those under his command of never interfering. Though if they were slow and stupid he had no problem taking a missed opportunity for himself. He turned back to Cobb, “Now Captain Cobb, shall we get down to business. Surely you have enough” he waved his hand looking for the word, “inventive punishments for your crew.” He still wasn’t sure he believed that artifact was dangerous.

Zanic turned to Fey, an eager gleam in his eye. “Ah, good doctor. Perhaps while the big to dos argue we can find a mutually beneficial trade to engage in?”
DaiMon Olash
Negotiator Zanic

The Doctor smiled mischievously at the Ferengi as if sharing a conspiratory secret between the two. “If you’ll excuse us, Captain, I’m going to take our friend, Negotiator Zanic here, to Sickbay to go over the details of what I need and what I’m offering.” The Doctor stands and offers an arm to the Negotiator, “Come, there is no need to subject yourself to the horrors they are about to discuss.”

“Aye, Mr Olash,” Cobb nodded, “there is no further delaying of the inevitable. Now, what I am about to show you remains classified and I would ask that you do not divulge any details outside of these four walls.”

Making his way over to the terminal, the captain entered his credentials and accessed the desired file - a heavily edited version of the footage originally provided to his own crew by Admiral Curros. He had taken great care to remove any identifying information while leaving enough to hopefully instill into their Ferengi guests the requisite amount of fear to send them running for the hills.

The screen opened with static, the visuals a digital snowstorm, the audio crackling like an out of control inferno, although here and there, a few distinct words could be made out, particularly by those in possession of larger than average ears…

=^= ......this is......the Einstein, the artifact is not dormant as originally believed......several of our crew have......trauma......paralysis......infected......bleeding......Please send assistance.=^=

The blizzard increased and then eventually subsided, to show flickering images, pale and ghostly against the glow of the screen.

=^=HELP US! WHY HAVE YOU ABANDONED US!=^= the figure began to scream, eyes spilling over with crimson. =^=I am the last one left.=^=

The terminal screen returned to darkness and with trembling hands, Cobb reached for a soothing cup of tea.
“That,” he nodded at the fading ghost of the image, “was your artifact. I am unable to reveal how many it has killed but…it was enough to warrant the Federation sending an entire starship to take care of it.”

Settling into the seat beside Olash, Cobb leaned in close. “The incident you witnessed on your way in here…you were not supposed to see that. But now you understand the danger inherent in these things, I implore you, please allow us to protect you. Please allow us to save you from this monster who has drawn you, unknowingly, into its trap.”

  • Captain Zachariah Cobb

Olash watched and wasn’t convinced that it wasn’t mocked up for his benefit, until he saw the shaking of Cobb’s hand as he reached for tea. Olash sat back staring in a horror at the screen where the image of the officers dying horribly grotesquely pulled at sense of self preservation. The young officer burning to death by ice making him swallow. Olash was shrewd and knew if he died in this venture there would be no more profit. “Perhaps your security chief could keep Borrick out of trouble, and we might negotiate in private.” Zanic could be trusted, Borrick obviously could not. He’d been too busy drinking and stuffing his face to watch the video. Good thing too, the slug was taken to hysterics apparently.
DaiMon Olash

Zachariah granted the DaiMon’s request without question. He had seen the fear in the Ferengi’s eyes and knew they were closing in on a home run.
“Lt Stone, Lt Kastil, please continue to guard our guests. You have both done an admirable job so far in terms of securing their safety and I would hate for that to change now,” he nodded towards his officers, confident that they would continue to engage Borrick and Zanic in conversation and perhaps even secure a few additional trinkets for their trouble.

Then, moving towards the door, he beckoned for Olash to follow him. “Let us step once more outside and speak in private,” he suggested, before adding, “I am fully armed, Mr Olash, and will do all that I can to maintain your own wellbeing.”

  • Captain Zachariah Cobb

“As long as you’re our guests, you have nothing to worry about.” Commented Stone to Ferengi. “We’ll make sure to keep you safe.”

Even though she disliked Ferengi, she was still a professional and didn’t let them know how she might have felt. As long as they keep things professional as well, there shouldn’t be a problem.

Lt. Andrea Stone, COS

As the Doctor and Negotiator left, the Doctor handed him a PaDD with a list of all the equipment she would need to not only backfill what she was missing but upgrade what she had. “Now, I realize that some of this will be hard to come by, but I hope that what I show you will encourage you to willingly part with what I’m requesting in good working order. Now I understand that Rule 19 states satisfaction is not guaranteed, but I’m hoping what I offer will at least warrant a higher quality of the equipment I need. Some of this will be for general medical use, others will be for lab experimentation.”

Once inside of sickbay, the Doctor dismissed all her staff before opening a secret safe she had in her office, lending to the air of confidentiality of what she is sharing with the Negotiator. “Now, this is my reference book of experiments and what I want to offer you is one that has already succeeded.” She pulls a binder labeled R31/D44 and sets it on a table with a hypospray of a greenish muddy liquid. Next to the hypospray is a dermal regenerator and a scalpel. “First I reintroduce you to the standard Federation issue Dermal Regenerator. You’ve seen these and variations of them millions of times, I’m sure you’ve sold a million of them as well so I won’t go into detail on how they work.” The doctor applies an anesthetic to her arm to ensure the demonstration doesn’t hurt or inhibit her ability to make the trade. She picked up the scalpel next and cuts an open wound onto her hand then picked up the Dermal Regenerator to seal half the injury. After that, she uses the hypospray with the chemical to spray some of it onto the hand to seal up the rest of the wound. “As you can see, it works just as effectively as a Dermal Regenerator. Again, this is just part of the demonstration, I know you’ve sold a thousand of these before. Now comes the interesting part, I do apologize for the graphic nature of what comes next.”

Fey places herself into a bracing device to hold her arm in place, then using a blunt instrument, proceeded to bash her arm until it was clearly broken. The doctor winces as she removes her arm from the brace. “Sorry about that, but I am not Ferengi and can only really sell things through negotiation and hard proof of effectiveness.” The Doctor puts her arm under the scanner to display the break for the Negotiator. “As you can see, my arm is clearly broken. Wow, that is broken, I’m going to feel that later. Anyway, because it doesn’t pierce the skin, to fix this I will have to cut into my arm to realign the bone so that it can heal properly. Then I have to use the Dermal Regenerator to seal the incision. With the Cellular Regenerative, however, well I’ll let it speak for itself.” The Doctor used the remainder of the dosage in the hypospray then counts back from 4 before lifting and twisting her arm. Putting it back under the scanner, she proved that the break was in fact properly repaired. “Rule 58, there is no substitute for success.”

The Doctor returns to the binder and pulls a PaDD from it containing the chemical compound. “So here is the deal I want to make with you. I will give you the formula now, when you can get me all the requested equipment on that PaDD I gave you on the way here, I give you the research notes and forgo the rights to the chemical. This means it will belong solely to you. Hire a moderately decent Ferengi Chemist for cheap, and you can sell this to EVERY hospital in the Ferengi Alliance. After you register the patent as your own of course. Rule 23, Nothing is more important than your health…except for your money.”

  • The MAD Doctor Fey

Posts on USS Leviathan

In topic

Posted since


© 1991-2024 STF. Terms of Service

Version 1.15.9