What a Broot Wants

Posted on Sun 17th Jul, 2022 @ 7:08pm by Criswell Sandbags & Qaraq & Purulence Addams & Ignatius Collins

2,808 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: The Hunted
Location: Qaraq's Casino, Brown Sector
Timeline: MD-4, 2100 hours

ON

"So he courted me for the job with piping-hot grilled cheese sandwiches and French fries," Purulence told Ignatius as they walked down the corridor toward Qaraq's Casino, "which was very effective, mind you."

"Scandalous," Ignatius said as he held the door open for her. "Not even a week engaged, and already putting yourself into compromising situations for grilled cheese sandwiches. Whatever shall I do with you?"

"Kiss me thoroughly, once we leave here?" Purulence suggested, batting her eyelashes at him and gesturing with one hand as if she were hiding coyly behind a fan. Then she swept her denim skirt aside and they were inside the casino. Her attention was immediately consumed with looking at all the walls and trying to think what sort of mural might look nice there. "This place needs some work."

"Ho-ly cow!" Ignatius whispered, "I'll bet that bartender never has to break up fights. Back home, the guys from the fishing fleet would take one look at him and act like it was Sunday before church."

"He is pretty tall--and blue," Purulence agreed. "Shall we?"

"No time like the present."

They walked up to the bar and took adjoining stools. "Hello," Purulence said and smiled at the bartender. "Do you have a special this evening?"

Qaraq flashed a wide smile showcasing his pearly white teeth. "Welcome! I'm afraid tonight we have only a partial beverage selection, but it does include an ale called Korfmager, a popular drink invented by my wife, family-brewed on my home planet. It's already the most popular drink of the night. A wider variety of drinks will be available tomorrow, including brews from Risa, Andor, Fesaria, Qo'noS, and many others. I do suggest the buffet, which has a complete menu of several Terran foods made with natural ingredients, no replicators, from our own chef."

"I'm not one to insist on natural ingredients, but I sure won't pass them up," Purulence said. "I'll check out the buffet in a minute. I'd like a Korfmager, please."

"Make that two," Ignatius said and tapped his card on the scanner to open a tab. "I haven't had home-brewed beer since I was back home."

"Your Earth produces some fine ales very similar to mine on Delavi," Qaraq rumbled as he poured the two pints. "I think you'll find this drink akin to an Earth brand called Guinness." He set the full glasses on the bar. "My name is Qaraq. I'm the new owner of this establishment."

"Oh, you're Qaraq! I'm Purulence Addams," Purulence said. "Mr. Sandbags told me to talk to you. Welcome to Starbase 109."

"Ignatius Collins." Ignatius sniffed his ale appreciatively a few times, took a sip, and smiled. "Smooth! I like this even better than Guinness."

Qaraq straightened and grinned. "I consider that high praise from a Terran!" he bellowed, his voice the rumble of twelve rolling bowling balls. "You flatter me and my late wife, Ertha."

"Very sorry to hear she's no longer around," Ignatius said.

"What was she like?" Purulence asked and took a sip of her pint.

Qaraq smiled. "She was the quintessential Broot female," he rumbled with great pride. "Honest, fair... when she punched you it was like a mighty battleship rammed your face!" He saw the couple's aghast faces and couldn't help but grin. "Broots are a very physically aggressive race. We believe a fight is the best and quickest way to resolve a dispute. The loser of the fight must buy the victor or victors a round of drinks. Then all is resolved and nothing more is said of the matter. Ertha and I were married for forty years. We rarely ever fought, but I bought the ale every time. She was a remarkable woman. And very beautiful, of course. The perfect wife and mother."

"Sooo...Kind of like Klingons, but with a better sense of fun?" Purulence asked. "Like when my parents fence with each other?"

"Klingons thrive on war," Qaraq replied with the bat of a massive blue hand. "They see death in battle as the greatest honor. Broots do not. We see family as most important. To have a large family is everything to us. The most honorable death is a quiet one, surrounded by our loved ones." Qaraq shrugged. "But to each their own, I suppose. Dying in battle seems to me like a waste of a life. Though I will say this about Klingons and Broots: we love a good sing-song and a scrap!"

"Your parents fence?" Ignatius raised his eyebrows. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Yes, with epees. The challenge is to not draw blood for as long as possible, because epees are deadly. Thus they're both very good at it. And then there's the mopping up and lovemaking afterward, of course." Purulence looked back at Qaraq. "My family would rather die surrounded by loved ones, too. War is very overrated." She sipped from her Korfmager.

"Mr. Sandbags told me that you're looking for someone to paint a mural on the walls here," she said. "I'm interested. What sort of murals do you have in mind?"

"Ah! Yes," Qaraq grinned. "You are the magnificent painter Mr. Sandbags has told me about. I saw your wonderful portrait of Criswell, the one he sent to his father. I thought you captured the man's essence very well. Criswell suggested the mural be a collage of different portraits, but I was hoping to see some more of your work first. You and I might come up with a better idea. Do you paint anything other than portraits?"

"Portraits are my specialty, followed closely by figure painting, but I can also paint landscapes, art with architectural features, crowd scenes, animals. For your mural here, I was thinking of a movie theater I used to go to on Earth. Its walls were painted with various scenes of famous actors and actresses in a party setting or in famous scenes from cinema films. So perhaps paintings of people having fun gambling, hanging out at the bar here, nibbling on food from the buffet? Or would you prefer something more abstract and evocative of some particular mood? In casino design, I know there are particular colors and patterns that are often favored--for example magenta, red, and orange, with cooler accent colors," Purulence said.

"The first person I encountered in Brown Sector was our mutual friend Criswell," Qaraq said. "I have never met anyone who is so intelligent and yet so apologetic for their own existence. In the past week, I got to know more of Brown Sector and some of the people living here. These are not the wicked and violent types I knew on Delavi. The people here are scared and desperate, but good. They deserve much better."

Qaraq stopped to survey the giant room, already mostly filled with as yet unused tables and games. "I want this place to take them far away from here," he continued. "Somewhere exotic and unique. No, I want them to feel exotic and unique! I want them to have a new experience every time they turn around." He looked back down at Purulence. "Can you give them that?"

Purulence blinked. "I...don't know. Paintings are static." She gave Qaraq's idea some thought. "On Earth we have things called kaleidoscopes. They're made with bits of crystal in a pair of tubes fitted together. One tube--the object tube--can be turned, and it's filled with three mirrors forming a triangle around the center of the tube. When you look through the eye-hole of the viewing tube, you see a flower-like pattern that changes every time you turn the object tube a little, and it's never the same twice. Maybe, if I could figure out a way to incorporate that concept into the building design...." Her voice trailed off, and she studied the ceiling and walls some more. "Maybe photosensitive wall panels that could be programmed to display part of a kaleidoscope image?" Purulence glanced at Qaraq. "Is that even remotely similar to what you have in mind?"

"Perhaps not flowers," Qaraq said. "But flashy images of some kind might meet my approval. I'm afraid I don't know much about art. Delavi did not have need to be so sophisticated, but it was just a bar. It needs to be different here."

"Flashing neon lights!" came a voice from behind Purulence and Ignatius. They all turned and saw Criswell standing there, holding a PADD at his side. "Oh, I'm very sorry I said that. It just slipped out."

Ignatius tapped his fiancee on the arm. "How about something like vertical blinds--but not flat--more in a triangle shape like the mirrors in a kaleidoscope. That way you could set them to turn with a timer to show three different images, depending on which side of each segment is facing the viewer. They could even be somewhat holographic. And you could paint images on both sides of each panel, to double the number of possible images."

Purulence took out her SketchPADD and began both writing and sketching notes as Criswell, Qaraq, and Ignatius began suggesting ideas. "I like all of this. Neon lights would be good, because I've never seen a casino without them. For your guests, Mr. Qaraq--There's a spa in the Promenade that uses bracelets to guide customers around the spa. What if your guests had the option to use such bracelets, too--but yours could have holo-emitters in them that could give the illusion of fancy clothing or exotic appearances?"

"Maybe not that extravagant," Qaraq remarked.

Purulence made a note of that.

Criswell handed his PADD to Qaraq. "Here are my notes for today, as well as your schedule for tomorrow. I will retire for the night, unless you have any further instructions..."

Qaraq nodded. "You are released from your duties, Mr. Sandbags. However, if you wish, you may join us. We are discussing the art display and would value another opinion." He looked down at Purulence and Ignatius and added, "And drinks are on the house!"

"I would love to, Mr. Qaraq," Criswell said bashfully. "But I don't know how much I could help..."

"I'm a cheap drunk," Purulence told Qaraq with a smile, "but I would appreciate a cup of hot tea or coffee if you have that."

Qaraq nodded. "We do not have tea yet, but I can quickly brew some coffee." He turned from the bar and activated the coffee machine he never thought he'd use.

Purulence looked at Criswell. "As for you, Mr. Sandbags, you are the Taste Police--or to say it as my family would, the Arbiter of Fashion. You can tell what looks good and what is too overblown. I'd value your opinion."

Criswell smiled. "Well... I think Mr. Qaraq is partly right. The holo-bracelets are a little too extravagant to have all clientele wearing them. But what if we did it for the dealers and Dabo girls? Of course, I'm assuming the Dabo girls won't be dressed in the traditional way... which is to say not dressed at all."

Qaraq turned around for a second and shot an amused glance at Purulence, then back at Criswell. "I'm afraid I'm not that traditional, Mr. Sandbags. Ms. Addams, would you like anything added to your coffee? Cream? Sugar? Something loaded?"

"Cream and sugar would be fine, thank you; Bailey's Irish Cream if you have it," Purulence said. "It did occur to me that holo-bracelets would probably be stolen by customers, so I agree, not the best idea. But yes, they could be fun for the dealers and Dabo girls to wear." She nibbled on the end of her stylus and scribbled something els on her PADD. "The 'vertical blinds' idea seems a bit too elaborate to me. What if the casino were divided into sections, and each section had a different theme?"

Criswell's eyes lit up. "Ooh! That's a great idea!" he exclaimed.

"What kinds of themes?" Qaraq asked, handing Purulence her coffee. "I don't know what an 'Irish' cream is, but I put in a creamy vanilla liqueur that should do the trick."

Purulence gave Ignatius a gleeful look. "We shall have to educate him!"

Ignatius grinned back at her. "I foresee many fun evenings in here, doing just that."

"Thank you for the coffee," Purulence said. She took a sip and smiled at Qaraq. "Perfect. I hate bitter coffee."

"Are drinks free for me too?" Criswell asked. Qaraq grinned.

"Criswell, if you're off duty, you always drink free," the iridescent blue giant thundered.

"Then I'll try the Korfmager," Criswell said.

"Good man," Qaraq said with a smile. "As for themes, the casino floor should be louder than the bar and buffet. Any ideas?"

"We could use black lights on the bottom level to enhance bright colors while keeping the surroundings dark," Criswell suggested. "Then we could project neon images on the walls and ceiling."

"That would keep people's attention on the gaming tables and the slot machines, which is where you will want it," Purulence agreed. "Many of the people living here are Bajoran, so maybe a Bajoran-themed area. Maybe some of the other worlds the residents here have had to leave. I could paint images of Delavi around the bar, for instance, if you have any favorites."

"I like the landscape idea," Criswell remarked as Qaraq handed him his full glass of the amber colored Korfmager. "A Delavi theme would be great too!"

Qaraq shook his head. "I came here to get away from Delavi. This is my home now."

"Then perhaps an Earth motif for the bar and a Bajoran one for the buffet?" Criswell asked. "Perhaps we could alternate various locations on the respective planets. There's a place on Earth called London that sounds very fascinating. We can do other places as well."

"You said you wanted to see further samples of my work," Purulence said. "Here's a proposal I sketched for a mural that was painted for the consulate decks up in the Promenade," Purulence said. "I didn't get the commission, but I was among the finalists." She handed Qaraq her PADD and touched an icon on it.

Purulence handed her PADD to him. "I designed the proposed mural as a labyrinth maze with a fountain, stone benches, and a small flower and herb garden at its center. The complaint was that a gardener would have to walk the entire labyrinth to get any work done--which was a valid point, but I could have easily redesigned the maze."

The images flowed into each other. One moment, the viewer was looking at stately Romulan buildings; a few more steps away, and the scene melted into a Bajoran temple complex, which somehow became Andoria a few steps later, then an Orion market, then a Denobulan garden. A Cardassian forest followed by a grassy Trill savannah then melded into Vulcan's Forge.

"I'm impressed!" Qaraq responded. "Is this what you are thinking for the buffet?" He handed the PADD to Criswell, who began scrolling.

"Yes!" Criswell said. "This would be perfect!"

"For once, I have an idea," Qaraq said, satisfied with his XO's approval. "What about different landscapes projected at different times of day? For example, bright skies at 1200 and sunsets at 1900?"

"Oh, I like that!" Purulence said. "You could run it as slideshows of images in dynamic image frames. The images can be programmed to shift on a timed setting matched to Starbase time, and it might even be possible to match the sunset and sunrise times with the Tivoli Gardens settings, so that you have a sense of the seasons--if you want that."

"Oh, I love that idea!" Criswell said, taking a drink. "This Korfmager ale is very good!"

"I'm glad you think so," Qaraq replied. "Purulence, I like your idea of changing seasons. Delavi was often rather cold. There wasn't much difference between summer and winter. I would enjoy a variety of seasons in the buffet."

Purulence wrote the information on her PADD. "All right, I'll plan for that, then. So, dynamic wall frames, backlit, with programming for different light levels according to time of day and season. Do you want this just in the buffet or in additional areas of the casino? And do you want photographic images or landscape paintings?"

Qaraq chuckled. "I really don't know. I defer to you, Mr. Sandbags," he said, nodding to his Executive Assistant.

Criswell looked back and forth between Qaraq and Purulence. "Er, I think photographic might be best. And I would keep the landscapes in the buffet only, projecting the images in random order."

Qaraq looked back to Purulence. "Is that something you can do?" he asked her.

Purulence nodded. "Yes, it is. How soon do you need for this to be done?"

"All games will be completely open in three days," Qaraq said. "I want your work completed in two."

END

 

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