Torrog Meets a Woman

Posted on Mon 22nd Jun, 2020 @ 11:24pm by Captain Torrog & Yuliette Marayan Dr.
Edited on on Wed 15th Jul, 2020 @ 1:15am

1,172 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Resolution
Location: The Zodiac
Timeline: MD 11, 1300

"Captain Torrog! Captain Torrog!" his executive assistant called as he came running up behind him. "Captain, you have to tell me where you're going! I've told you before that this base isn't safe to wander around without having someone know where you are." Petodd, the shorter Ferengi, scolded, huffing and puffing.

Exhibiting long-suffering patience for a Ferengi, and only because Petodd actually was good at his job, saving Torrog many countless hours of tasks he didn't want to do, the captain turned from the exit. "Wandering, by definition, means having no particular destination in mind."

The smaller man nodded, sharpened jagged teeth exposed in a smile, "Yes, Sir, I know. You can still give me some idea of where to start searching, in case you don't return."

With a sigh, Torrog shook his head, "Alright, I give in. I'm going far down on the base to look over some business opportunities in something called The Zodiac. Morva, you remember her from dinner on the barge in Tivoli Gardens?"

At Petodd's enthusiastic nod, the captain continued impatiently, "Well, she suggested to me there might be ... circumstances favorable to our business if I look around. We still have some Bajoran foraiga in the hold that I'd like to offload before it goes bad, and there are plenty of Bajorans in Brown Sector. Does that satisfy your curiosity?"

Sensing he had gone as far as he could with his boss, the little Ferengi's head nodded rapidly. "Not curiosity, security concerns."

Torrog grunted and turned back to his ship's exit, leaving Petodd standing behind him with a speculative look. "Near-foraiga, maybe," he muttered, and then shrugged. It wasn't his business.

The ship's captain entered the main corridor leading away from his docking position and took a down-station express tram to Deck 2250. There he took the local turbolift up one deck and followed the signs for The Zodiac. Most of the rest of the deck was either empty warehousing or cargo storage. He wondered if it would be cheaper to store his cargo here between trips. That's something Petodd could consider for him.

Before long, he came to a livelier section of the deck. Small businesses lined a road up to a somewhat elaborate entrance for the kind of place it seemed to be. Huh, repurposed building. Morva's right. There could be a few latinum exchanges down here. He rubbed his hands down the sides of his fitted trousers in anticipation, and climbed the steps to the open doors.

Torrog's way was blocked by an empty emu-cart that had strayed from it's owner. It honked in his face and then trotted off again. A boy was chasing after it. Before Torrog could as much as react, a Tellerite stuffed a flyer in the Ferrengi's hand for the boxing arena. "Tournament starts tonight in the Rotunda. They're taking bets now."

The flyer fellow moved on and stuffed another one into the hands of a whisp of a woman, who thanked him absentmindedly and stuffed the flyer into her satchel. She was busy looking around at the signage, like she'd been turned around and gotten lost.

The Ferengi looked at the flyer and then crumpled it in his hand, turning to look for a garbage can. He wasn't wasting gold-pressed latinum on games of chance, especially one he knew nothing about. He noticed an attractive dark-haired woman reading signs, just as he had been before the Tellerite interrupted him. "Wouldn't I like to have you rub my ears," he muttered.

He walked toward her, not having to pretend he was uninformed, and asked, "Say, do you know anything about this Zodiac place? Where is it, exactly?" He noted that, for once, he didn't have to look up at a pretty girl who wasn't Ferengi, and took that as a positive sign.

"I think this is the Zodiac. It was meant to be some kind of resort, but it's kind of a couple of blocks of homes and businesses now. I'm kind of new here myself," she admitted. "I was given this pamphlet, but it's not very helpful." She handed him the out-of-date travel brochure that came from her new landlord and let him have a few moments to peruse it.

"We're on the Perseus arm here." She shouldered up near the Ferengi to show him her grease pencil map on the back of Findley's flyer. "That's the Rotunda at the center. The other curved street is the Centaur arm."

Torrog absorbed what she was saying, in spite of how close and enticing she was. "You know a lot for someone who's new to the neighborhood," he complimented her. "I'm Captain Torrog. With a cargo ship docked for deliveries and repairs, I thought I'd come see if I could rustle up some business down here. Maybe find a restaurant or lounge that needed something I have ... or has something I need. Any ideas about that? I'd be happy to buy you lunch in return for your help."

The Ferengi managed not to act like a teenager in rut as he spoke with the woman,

Lunch. Yuliette was starved and thirsty. "Sure, of course. I can show you what I know." She didn't know much, but she was too hungry to play down her few hours of experience on the Drift.

"Great!" He looked around for a moment, and then back at her. "So you think there's a good restaurant in here somewhere? I'll let you pick, because I can eat anything. I made a good run to SB109, so money isn't a major concern at the moment,but I've been hearing a lot about some hoo-man thing called a burger. Do you know what that is?"

"I think I passed an earth themed diner..." She started back down the Drift, testing her memory until she found the neon that said it was Perseus Diner, complete with a stylized neon gorgon head. "It's Greek, but I'm betting they do other Terran and Bajoran dishes."

Keeping up with her, Torrog bowed her to proceed into the restaurant, as he'd seen hoo-mans do in their holo-vids. "After you. I'm sure they will have something edible for both of us. They wouldn't stay in business long if they weren't meeting demand."

He followed her into the door of what turned out to be much bigger on the inside than it appeared on the outside. The smells from the food piqued his interest, and his stomach echoed that with a low rumble. "I think you have chosen wisely!" he nodded approval as they moved toward an empty table against a wall on one side. His head turned this way and that, checking what was on the tables of other diners, and he was sure any of it would serve him well, even if it didn't have grubs or slugs. When in another culture, make do. I don't think that's a rule of acquisition, but it's still a good rule to follow, he thought.

 

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