Posted by Civilian Zerbo (Colonial Finance Minister) in Finding out more. The next day (Tag Argam)

Posted by Civilian Jezem (Upstanding Citizen) in There’s A Bad Moon Rising (Tag Zerbo)

Posted by Civilian Zerbo (Colonial Finance Minister) in There’s A Bad Moon Rising (Tag Zerbo)
Posted by… suppressed (10) by the Post Ghost! 👻
The things I do for my husband Argam thought for not the last time as he sat in a comfortable chair outside the office of the Colonial Finance Minister. The Ferengi wore his best suit and thumbed at the gold-pressed latinum ring on his right hand. He believed his husband when he said that a financial disaster loomed on Oed’s horizon. Though they cut themselves from their dark criminal pasts, Jezem kept some contacts. In case of emergencies was the reasoning though now Argam wasn’t sure if he was blessed or cursed by that particular choice. Something big was coming this way and his husband insisted he warn the Finance Minister before they all suffered the consequences.

Argam tried not to squirm in his seat, trying to hide his discomfort around other Ferengi. Fearful that they could see right through him and knew he did not belong. That he didn’t have all the Rules of Acquisition memorized and didn’t treat latinum and it’s accumulation as the ultimate goal in life. He was a good business man but he wasn’t a good Ferengi buisness man. How in the world was he supposed to convince the Minister of this impending financial doom?

Argam, Husband of Jezem

A tall Vulcan lady appeared from behind the desk. “Argam. Is it? The Minister would see you now.” She pressed a button and two big doors going to the office of the Finance Minister opened.

Once inside, Argam would immediately see valuables, priceless works of art and artifacts from their homeworld among other things, lining a giant foyer that was about 50 meters squared, then going to the main office area which was 100 meters wide and 400 meters long and high vaulted ceiling about 50 meters tall. Far in the back sat the fat Ferengi Finance Minister at his desk. Pressing the intercom Zerbo spoke. “Please go to the bar on your left and help yourself to whatever you want and eat from the buffet cart to its left. I will be there shortly.”

All the furniture, glasses, dinnerware, etc were fit and made for Ferengi’s. After about 20 minutes, Zerbo made his was over pouring himself a full glass of Trillian Port. “I am sorry for the wait dear sir. I was busy with another matter of importance. It is very nice to see more Ferengi coming here. How my I help you today?

Zerbo, Finance Minister

“Right. Thank you,” Argam bowed his head to the Vulcan before stepping into the office. The really, really extravagant office. Argam couldn’t help but oogle at some of the wealthier items. Such fine art pieces they were, and artifacts from the homeworld. The sheer size of this office. . . Didn’t one get tired walking back and forth through it all day? Argam eyed the offerings on the bar and buffet. He brought some latinum strips in case he had to pay for anything but decided to play things safe and leave both alone. He didn’t have much of an appetite at the moment anyways and alcohol won’t make his job any easier.

“The wait was no trouble at all,” Argam said, “and Oed is a fine colony full of opportunity.” All the market research he did suggested a stable economy on the rise. Which made the news he had to give all the more urgent. “Yes, you see I’m here today because- Well, to give you an urgent warning.” Argam paused, waving one hand as though he could conjure the magic words for a convincing argument, “Someone, or a group of individuals, are planning to flood Oed with low-cost products of seemingly exceptional quality except they’re all cheaply produced junk. All this done with the intent to destabilize the local markets and get their foot in the door.” These people are planning something big, Jezem said. This first phase of theirs only the start should they succeed.

Argam, Husband of Jezem

Zerbo just stared at the Ferengi in grimy of him with his fat, beady eyes for a moment before commenting. “So let me get this straight. You and your husband, that have really no trade or business empires, are telling me, with trade and business empires as well as connections as far as the Galaxy is big, that you both know something I do not, is that correct? So how did you both learn about this and why is your husband not here with you?”

Zerbo, Finance Minister

Argam smiled but it was more of a panicked grimace than anything genuine. Argam had a respectable business, an importer of luxury goods from around the local sector. He was respected by the community. His customers and staff had nothing but good things to say about him and his work. But it was no empire. He had no side-hustles and his investments were low-stakes long-term ventures that anyone with common sense had. “My husband sends his regards,” Argam began, “He was really disappointed that business prevented him from joining me today. But you see my husband has a few connections of his own from his days as a captain of a merchant ship. It was while talking with those old friends of his that he caught wind of this, um, this plot.

“My husband looked into market reports and that’s when he noticed an uptick in certain raw materials that lead him to believe someone was planning an large-scale attack on Oed markets.” Argam tried really, really hard to sound confident in sure. His husband’s instincts were rarely ever wrong but ‘my husband said so’ had to be the weakest reasoning ever conceived and he knew it.

Argam, Husband of Jezem

Zerbo stared at him again with his fat, beady eyes, then took a drink of his beverage and his facial expressions softened. “Please forgive me. I meant no disrespect as to imply you don’t have a good business going on. You do. And this buffet and drinks are free. Please eat and drink. And please get me the information your husband looked up and we can all try to connect the dots together. Ok? I, as Finance Minister, cannot let something like this go unnoticed. Ok?”

Zerbo, Finance Minister

Huh. Argam blinked, unsure if he heard correctly. “Oh. . . S-sure. Thank you.” Argam shuffled his way towards the carts in a daze and built himself a humble little plate of finger foods but kept his water. He really hadn’t much an appetite but he didn’t want to be seen as ungrateful either. Jezem was so much better at these kinds of things. Argam liked straightforward, simple business. He presented Zerbo a data rod before taking a seat, “The Beta Trianguli system, though ostensibly Federation manages its own system and employs loser trade regulations. They keep outsiders out of its trade dealings through brutal bureaucracy and fierce litigation. Which makes it a desirable half-way point between us an uncontested space.

“Our. . . I suppose I’ll call them rivals, have begun stockpiling their raw materials in the system while they ship more in from beyond the Federation lines. That’s about all my husband was able to uncover on his own. I’ve included the trade reports and missives he referenced.” The data rod held all the promised information including estimates of where all the raw materials were being purchased from and rough estimates of the amounts and type. If one didn’t know what to look for or the signs to watch-out for it was far too easy to look at each report and suspect nothing out of place or any kind of foul-play.

Argam, Husband of Jezem

“Thank you for the data rod Argam. Please make yourself comfortable and eat and drink as much as you want while I look through this.”
Zerbo inserted the rod into his Padd and began looking through the information. He stopped halfway through and looked worried.

Looking up at Argam while taking off glasses. “I will look at the rest tomorrow. My eyes hurt. It is as you say. With a casual glance, you cannot tell that they are doing this. If it’s very subtle and clever. You and your husband seem to be right about this. I will make sure there is a reward for your troubles. This requires intervention once I read the rest and Mahe a detailed report. Is there any other information?”

Zerbo, Finance Minister

Argam sat and waited, politely sipping at his water and nibbling on foods. He sat up straighter as the minister addressed him again, “Oh, a reward isn’t necessary,” Though Jezem would have his head if he found out one was offered and Argam declined. That was a future concern that could wait, “That is all the information that we were able to find. I’m sorry it is not much.” Argam would sleep a little easier knowing that the financial security of Oed V remained safe.

Argam, Husband of Jezem

“Well. I will owe you a favor than. That is worth a lot. I will contact you two tomorrow afternoon and we will talk and think of a solution.”

After he left Zerbo rubbed his eyes and looked at the information again. “Stupid beings trying to bring down commerce. Not on my watch.”

Zerbo, Finance Minister

Argam left the Finance Minister’s office feeling a little off-balanced but bolstered. He was taken seriously and the Minister seemed pleased with the data they’d uncovered. So long as money and trade flowed freely and the economy of Oed remained in balanced then Argam couldn’t complain about that! Back home Jezem looked up from stirring something sweet-smelling in a sauce pan, “You’re back later than I expected,” Jezem said, studying Argam as though he could discern how the meeting went through body language. Actually, that’s exactly what his husband did. The Orion could read Argam’s mind with a glance, “He belived you? Sisters and their untold blessings, I thought I’d have to spend another day digging through stuffy records to find more evidence.”

Argam laughed, “No, no more of that. The Minister was pleased by what he found. I am impressed, dearest, you got lobes any Ferengi would be jealous of.” Now it was Jezem’s turn to laugh.

“Come eat dinner and tell me more about your meeting.” And Argam did.

Argam and Jezem

Zerbo called and left a message for Argam to meet him at his office as soon as possible. He was troubled that he didn’t notice this before and it took a very low business man to point out out. Even more hurtful to Zerbo was the fact that it was another Ferengi and one that was a successful business owner but not successful in Ferengi terms.

It took him hours to sleep after he went to bed wondering how The Ferengi Alliance’s second in command was so stupid as to not see this. Zerbo downed the glass of wine he was holding thinking it had to be that because of his success, he no longer needed to worry about such trivial things and yet it was these very trivial things that would be his undoing. It took another set of eyes to understand… no. It also took another set of ears, ego’s, and lifestyles to understand. Zerbo knew he had to change his ways and he was trying but it wasn’t fast enough. He would need to find out more of what Argam’s husband knew and then retain these two for future jobs and to basically look over documents every now and then to make sure OED V was secure and as much as Zerbo hated to admit it, to make sure his station was secure.

He had another glass of wine and some breakfast while waiting for Argam and hopefully his husband. He made sure there was enough food for them all.

Zerbo, Finance Minister

Bump