The Sales Pitch

Posted on Sat Mar 17th, 2018 @ 4:24am by Captain Rueben Gregnol & Reessem Nubohn KIA (*)

Mission: Mission 6 - Azzia
Location: Deck 2 outside the Captain's office
Timeline: MD 1 10:00
2822 words - 5.6 OF Standard Post Measure

Deacon climbed the stairs exiting the shuttle bay, leaving behind his new acquaintance, Ms. Amelia Jean Harkness. He found himself liking the brash shuttle pilot. As he reached the top of the stair, the heavy double hatch opened silently allowing him access to the gallery beyond. After he entered, and the hatch closed behind him he absent-mindedly placed his hand at the top of hatches seal and dragged down along the seal to its center point. It was then he became aware of another person in the gallery with him. “Terribly sorry,” he said turning toward the figure, “Habit to check the seals on exterior hatches.” He added with a shrug.

“No apologies needed,” came the response as the figure emerge from the shadows of the observation gallery. She was human, looked to be about Deacon’s age though that meant she was probably much younger. She had what could only be described as a mane of brunette hair that framed a lovely contoured face with a full mouth and penetrating hazel eyes. “You are the representative from ‘D & T: Resupply,’ Yes?”

“That I am Ma’am,” Deacon smiled extending his hand, “Deacon, Deacon Kane. And you’re,,, Captain Gregnil?” he asked questioningly.

Reessem suppressed a laugh as she took Deacon’s hand. “Ah no, I’m not Captain Gregnol,” she answered, politely correcting Deacon’s mispronunciation. She couldn’t help but notice the odd openness of Deacon’s face, with its broad smile and animated violet eyes which seemed to take everything in at once, “I’m Reessem Nubohn, ship’s administrator.” As she released his hand she felt its collection of calluses and scars as the drew against her palm. Whoever this man was he was used to working with hands.

“Well met Madame Nubohn,” Deacon replied, his face taking on a slightly dark green hue, “So you are like the ship’s purser?”

“Yes, I suppose, I take care of all the accounting, and help the quartermaster keep track of the cargo and manifests.” Reessem answered with a grin, “And it’s ‘Mademoiselle’ not ‘Madame’” Now why did she just say that she wondered.

“Pardonnez-moi, mais votre accent est très distinct.” Deacon suddenly blurted out, much to Reessem’s surprise. “Est-ce que tu parles français?”

“Yes, French is my first language,” Reessem replied in French as she tried to take stock this oddity with a purple mohawk and studded leather long coat standing before her. His accent was coarse, but understandable. “Where did you learn to speak my language? You speak very well for a .... Romulan.”

Again, she was rewarded with Deacon’s disarming smile, “No, No, No Mademoiselle, Not Romulan,” he insisted still speaking french, “I am Rigellian. No surprise you confuse me with my emotionally constipated cousins.” He shrugged, “If the smiles seem genuine and person doesn’t know when to shut up, their Rigellian. As to where I learned your beautiful language, you may thank an old shipmate of mine, Michelle LeBlanc. He taught me to speak French during the off watches and I taught him to speak Rigellian.”

“Well that’s very interesting,” Reessem replied, “But as pleasant as this is we should really get going.”

“As you wish Mademoiselle,” Deacon replied as he followed her down the corridor, “Would you mind of we conducted our talks in French, it has been so long since I’ve had a chance to practice.”

“As much of a pleasure that would be I’m afraid I must say no.” Reessem answered him with some regret, especially when she saw the crestfallen look in Deacon’s eyes, “Captain Gregnol will be conducting the talks and he does not speak French.” She explained trying to salve his hurt feelings.

Deacon smiled at Reessem, “Then until I meet your Captain Gregnol, I shall enjoy speaking to you in French” he proclaimed as they continued down the hallway making small talk.

As they entered the lift on their way to deck 2 and the Wardroom, Reessem realized how easy it was to talk with Deacon, as he seemed to genuinely enjoy listening to her. He was self-effacing and seemed to possess an innocent almost awkward charm of an absent-minded professor. It was at that moment she resolved to warn Reuban about this Deacon Kane. While he seemed genuine, the cynical part of her brain reminded her about one of the Ferengi rules of acquisition, ‘Smiles and compliments are free, lavish them on potential customers for the greatest return.”

Reuben looked up from his coffee as Reessem came into the Ward Room followed by the man who his mother would have described as a rebel with his mohawk. It amused him that in his 30's and no longer in uniform being ordered around my a commbadge he had become complacent and quite possibly judgemental thanks to his former captors. “You are the representative from ‘D & T: Resupply,’ da?” The Captain offered as his welcome. It was an unusual request but the Russain was interested it what he was offering.

"That I am sir. Deacon Kane is the name." Deacon replied as he extended his hand, The Captain clasped his hand giving Deacon a good firm shake. That and the direct serious look in the Captain's eyes told him that he'd hear the Rigelian out but also that he'd brook no fools, "I'd like to welcome you and your ship here to Azzia, and offer you our service for any of your refuelling or resupply needs."

Presenting the Captain with a PADD he continued, "As you look over our prices you'll see we are competitive with even the space station for both deuterium and antimatter which we can bring to you with our fuel tenders. We also work with contractors from Azzia who can provide you with the freshest meats and produce as well as nutrient composite for your replicators."

The captain quietly looked from the PADD to Deacon his expression unreadable, the wardroom quiet except for a slight rapping coming from the air exchangers. It was an interesting prospect and one that Rosie hadn't had the opportunity to have before. There was so much that needed to be done but he would need to talk to the girls and decide which were the priorities. "Da... I see." The Captain sat up a little straighter. "Your prices are interesting. How come they are so cheap?"

"Well, this will sound corny, but bare with me," Decon answered, narrowing his eyes thinking, "We believe in building relationships. Most of the bumboats will gladly gouge you, especially considering the Festival. In fact, most expect it." Deacon shrugged, "That`s short sighted especially with you cargo haulers. Now I'll admit, we could make more off you, maybe a lot more, once. I've convinced my boss, it`s better to make money off you the next ten times you drop anchor. Not as much profit each time but more profit overall. Then of course, we want you to tell other cargo haulers about us, which, bottom line, puts us in a better market position."

The Captain smirked for just a moment before he slumped back into his seat and sipped on her coffee. "Well, it is a very nice price. What could you arrange in ten days?" It would be worth it if the man was as true as his word. Deuterium and antimatter would be handy but it was the fresh produce and supplies that interested him as the ship only had six replicators onboard.

“Ok, Let’s see,” Deacon said taking back the PADD, “Provisioning. Well according to the port documents you have a crew complement of 30 – 40. Feeding your crew, two weeks fresh rations, that would be roughly 300 kg meat, 160 kg fish & shellfish, 600 kg fruit & vegetables, 60 kg dairy & eggs, 110 kg non-perishables, 50 kg coffee & tea. Roughly 1300 kg, ten days not a problem. I’d need to liaison with your Mademoiselle Nubohn, to coordinate packaging and delivery” He added trying, and failing to keep a smile off his face as he nodded to her, “Now your steward department can customize your order but I need a finalized list least six days prior delivery, it will take four days to assemble it for your inspection.” Passing the PADD back to Reuben he then said, “Right now we’re scheduling our fuel tenders four day out, and we require 24 standard hours between bunkering any deuterium and antimatter for safety. I'll also need coordinate with someone from your engineering department for that.”

"Speaking of Engineering, there is one last service I'd like to discuss with you, that of refitting," Deacon said as he stood up digging several objects out of his coat, it was a curious collection consisting of a small holoprojector a pair of remote glasses and gloves, and a bronze 'egg' about half the size of a football, "This service is offered by myself, personally, not through 'D & T.''

The man took the PaDD and looked over the rations that the man was talking about. It sounded just like the calculations he had worked out with Lorenzo for a basic budget for the meal plans. "Safety of my crew and anyone who we work with is paramount so we will abide by your rules. Shall we say four days from now for deuterium and two days after that for the antimatter." He could see Reessem scribbling away as she took note. "Is this allowed?" He wondered thinking some type of contract was being broke by the man for offering his own services.

“Excellent Captain! You won’t be disappointed.” Deacon replied with a grin, “Now as far as the refit work goes, D&T is exclusively a resupply company, there’s no conflict of interest.” He explained as the holoprojector activated. “Now in terms of my qualifications I am fully licensed and bonded within the within the Azzia system for repair and maintenance of matter/antimatter drives.” As he spoke copies of both the license and bond appeared in mid-air over the wardroom table. Picking them out of the air he handed them across to Reuben. “Mlle. Nubohn, I can send you copies of these for verification.”

“In addition, I have over fifteen years of experience working with older repurpose ships such as yours.” Deacon continued to say, “I worked on rehabilitating an old J-Class Orion freighter, repairing or rebuilding almost all her systems, eventually serving as her chief engineer and first officer for about four years. And if you like I can give you a small demonstration of my abilities.” He added nodding at the thumping air exchanger.

The Captain indicated for him to continue. He was interested as some of the systems like the above air filters didn't always work the way he wanted them to. "I don't need a show-off. I have two Engineers who fill that spot already. I need an Engineer who is going to get the job done." He said gently.

"Understood, this will just be a short demonstration." Deacon replied as he slipped on the remote glasses and gloves. He then touched the bronze 'football.' Lights on the small oblong shapes object flashed on and off as it rose into the air. Deacon then got up an opened the vent cover to the air exchanger, the probe following close behind. When it flew into the vent, the holographic display changed to line wardroom of the wardwoom an an ever expanding map of the ventilation system. As the map coalesced above the table Deacon went on with his sales pitch.

"Now the biggest issue with repurposed ships, such as yours, are the refits. You have gel pack networks, built over isolinear chip circuits, built over duotronic systems. The more refits, the more,,, problematic schematics are to use. As you see my drone builds a schematic from scratch, and if you have an engineer with a good eye," He said expanding the hologram until itcentred on a blower fan. "The problem can be found and diagnosed. Then it's just a matter of repairing the problem." Deacon then took active control of the drone, manipulating the fan and motor hologram right in the ward room using virtual tools. After a few moments the probe returned and the rapping had ceased. "Now, that was a simple problem. Any engineer could have fixed it." Deacon admitted. "I'm just offering my services to help your engineering staff, during your downtime. And as for cost of my services," Deacon added gritting his teeth, "I would like to propose a sort of bartering arrangement."

"You've seen nothing like this refit at all." It was scary how badly the refits had been done and then how much had been ripped out by The Collector to make the ship more automatic. It was a strange idea that a ship that big could have been run by just five people. "A bartering arrangement?" Now that pipped Reuben's interest more than the drone had, he had seen such devices at the intergalactic technology conference.

Deacon smiled as he exhaled. He was readying his next sales pitch when the little voice in the back of his head said 'fuck this shit' He narrowed his eyes at Reuben "Ok Cap, Let me put my cards on the table."he said earnestly, "If your engineers can come up with ten repair items, I'll take care of two items to prove my worth. I'll repair another two, for passage out of this system." Deacon put his hand up so he could explain, "I blew out my warp drive in the Nebula about ten months ago. My 'guide' was a little less than competent. I've been marooned here ever since. Parts are hard to come by."

Rueben frowned ever the Starfleet Officer coming out in him. He couldn't leave someone marooned here when he had the space and need to get them back to proper space. It wasn't in him to just leave someone behind. He would listen and evaluate what was happening.

"Now speaking of my ship. If I can park my shuttle in your bay, I'll fix four more items from the list. If you can give me time in your machine shop and access to ship's stores to fabricate the parts I need, the last two jobs are as good as done." Deacon could see he generated some interest, but he hadn't landed the job yet, "It's a big decision, in the meantime, I'd be happy to shuttle your crew back and forth to the planet. It would save you time and effort to pull local landing permits or get time on the transporter network. All of which is a royal pain because of the Festival. What do you say, sir? I'll be your 'Engineer who is going to get the job done' Just give me a chance."

Rueben sighed and shook his head, more at himself than the man. He was a sucker for a sob story. "It is a good thing we can't land then." He muttered trying to avoid the mere mention of landing, if they ever made a crash landing they would be pretty screwed in that regards with no landing gear. "I'll give you a chance." Was all the man said as he held out his hand.

Deacon grasped Reuben's hand trying to remain professional, despite the goofy grin he knew he was wearing. They made preliminary arrangements for meeting with his engineers, and parted with Deacon promising to return to the ship after finishing a couple of errands. As Reessem guided him back to the hanger deck, he was hard pressed not to dance down the corridor, his heart pounding at the thought of his liberation. As they reached the hanger door he turned toward her barely containing is enthusiasm, "Je te remercie, Mademoiselle Nubohn," then taking her hand, ever so gently in both of his, gave her a short bow, "J'espère continuer nos conversations très bientôt, en français."

Reessem felt her cheeks warm, "We will see you very soon, Monsieur Kane" she replied in French. As bay's access hatch closed behind she shook her head. Looking down at Deacon as he skipping back toward his shuttle and hugged the port agent who was impatiently waiting for him, she wondered what type of madman the Captain had just let on board. For some reason, she stood there as the bay depressurized and the shuttle left thinking about him. For a small horrifying moment, she thought Deacon might try and kiss her hand when he said goodbye. What was more disturbing was that a very small part of her was slightly disappointed that he didn't at least try. Again she shook her head and prayed he'd be able to deliver on his promises.

OFF::

Reuben Gregnol
Captain
SS Mary Rose

Reessem Nubohn
Admin
SS Mary Rose
(PNPC Gregnol)

Deacon Kane
Contractor
D&T Resupply