How Much?!

Posted on Sat Jul 2nd, 2011 @ 4:17am by Captain Claudia Drake

Mission: In Our Time of Need
Location: Near Replimat
Timeline: Following Previous

Claudia walked from the replimat and began to browse around the many shops that lined the main commerce area of the station. She paused at a small stand that seemed to sell all kinds of trinkets from many worlds...something caught her eye. It was a small cylindrical item that appeared to be made from a brushed golden metal. She recognised it instantly, "Excuse me, what is that?" she said indicating the item.

The trader looked at her through his large red eyes, his nasal flaps flaring at the side of his head, "That my pretty lady is something of a mystery. It I got it from a Lissepian Trader 6 months ago. The word is he got it in a stock-buy-out of a Boray merchant. All I know about it is most scanners can't get a reading on it, and it's very old."

"You have no idea" she said without realising, "It look's quite unusual, it would look nice on my desk. How much do you want for it?" her tone indicated that she wasn't really interested in the item, but in reality she would give her entire bank account just to hold it for a small time.

"What currency do you use?"

"Gold Pressed Latinum or Federation Credits."

"The in that case it is 30 strips of Latinum or 500 Credits."

Claudia was well aware of the inconsistency in praise between the two currencies, she had to make a show of recognising this or he may get suspicious and put the price up, "But 30 strips is 350 Credits....why the disparity between the two?"

"You see pretty lady, Federation Credits are harder to convert here, only you Federation accept them, so the difference is for the difficulty in using the currency."

Claudia nodded, "I'll pay in Latinum."

"A very wise decision pretty lady." he said his nasal flaps fluttering, he pulled a small device from his pocket, "Are you paying in hard Latinum or bank transfer?"

"Transfer." she said with a smile, as she took the device from him, she in-put her details and handed it back to the trader, "That should suffice, and 3 strips extra for your troubles."

The man smiled, "The Bank of Bolias, and excellent institution." he said as he took the device from her and placed it back in his pocket, he then lifted the cylindrical item and handed it to Claudia, "A pleasure trading with you. May the great cloud watch over you."

Claudia took the item and felt a surge of static force rush up her arm, she hid her reaction from the trader, "Thank you very much." she then made her way from the stall. She had to get back to her quarters - as soon as possible. She walked with a casual air in her step, hiding the urgency she felt inside. She had spent some 200 years or more looking for such a device in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants and was amazed that she had found one within 2 days of being in the Delta Quadrant. As she approached the turbolift she felt someone standing behind her she placed the device in her pocket and turned to look at who was behind her.

"Joral?" she said hiding the shock in her voice, "What are you doing here?"

The Trill looked at her and smiled, "When my therapist said she was leaving for a new assignment, I decided that instead of breaking a new one in, I would just follow her."

Claudia looked at him, "Would you call that normal behaviour?" she cocked and eye-brow as she studied him up and down.

"Well you've been my therapist for over 50 years, I would hate to end a good thing." he smiled.

Claudia was somewhat flattered by his words, she had established an good relationship with him. If she was honest he didn't really need a therapist, he just needed someone to talk to. He was one of the most powerful men in Business in the Federation, the stress of his job isolated him from his real emotions, "What about Jan'il Enterprises?"

"I've decided to see if we can expand into the Delta Quadrant, I had thought that the Malon would be a good people to work with. Try to help them to deal with their antimatter waste and re-build their planets eco-system."

Claudia nodded, "Okay." she looked at him, "You understand that the same boundaries exist here as they did on Earth. I am your therapist and not your friend. You do not contact me outside of our agreed sessions and I will not accept gifts from you. My stipend in lieu of pay is to donated to the Bajoran Occupation Orphans fund as before."

"Of course Professor Drake."

Claudia nodded, "Then I shall forward you an appointment for later in the week." she looked at him in silence, this was his cue to leave. They had also agreed that he would not know where she lived. It was a trust exercise more than anything. He had the power and resources to find out where she and all her children lived when on earth, and it would be even easier on the station. But she had put her trust in him to respect her personal life, and from what she was able to tell he always had. She just hoped things would continue as such on the station.

Joral walked away and Claudia entered the turbolift. She fingered the device in her pocket and spoke to the computer, "Main sickbay.", now she was seeing a client she thought it best to inform the medical staff so she could replicate any medication he may need. Knowing Joral's history he would need a lot when he was approaching the hypo-manic end of his cycle. Like many those who excelled in business he used his bi-polar disorder's positive symptoms to aid his commercial acumen and abilities. By going to sickbay it would also give her time to consider what he was going to do with the device. She inhaled deeply as the turbolift began to move through the station.