Pleasure to make your acquaintance

Posted on Mon Sep 10, 2018 @ 6:03am by Civilian Melvyn Raddon & Civilian 'Arrival' Geral Lasuma

1,725 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Victory Conditions
Location: Lasuma's
Timeline: MD09 - 0330 (simultaneous with You can't run far enough)

Melvyn entered the boutique and was immediately caught by the aroma that wafted through his nostrils. It had been awhile since he had been on Bajor, but the smell was quite distinct. Dorian was walking beside him carefully observing the room. Ever since the incident involving "Thom" from the so-called alternate universe in Mr. Raddon's quarters, Dorian had taken the responsibility of escorting the elderly man anywhere he needed to go throughout the station.

Geral had just finished his talk with his employees that had come together to help accelerate the remodeling but had stood ready to protect the area had there been an attempt to breech the walls put up during the construction. Though early he ha had the doors opened and the small kitchen was already preparing the odeuvers for their grand reopening.

Seeing people aleady entering he turned to great them and immediately recognized the pair. After all one didn't enter the game without knowing who the players were.

"Good Morning Mr. Raddon. I hadn't expected to see you so early. You have the distinct pleasure of being the first to visit our newly expanded facility. What do you think?"

Melvyn looked up with a smile. "Good day to you." He said as he carefully cast his eyes over the individual. "I must admit I am quite impressed by this shop that you've got here." he said with the same smile.

"You will only the finest here. We kept the clothing, but moved it to the side; fine art, antiques, and other items form across the galaxy; and finally fine wines, liquors, and delicacies from every corner of know space...and even a few rarities from the far side of the galaxy.

"As you can smell, I had a small kitchen placed in the back for special events and the like." Taking in the pair. "What can i do for you gentlemen?"

"Intriguing. . ." Melvyn said as he continued to walk further into the boutique. "I wanted to take the time to come down and meet the owner." He said. "I had heard that a small shop had begun aggressively expanding on the Promenade." He said as he turned back around to face Geral.

"Part of me was wondering what the big rush was..." Melvyn said with the same smile.

A mental brow was arched and he down played the man's concerns. "So suspicious... There was no rush...and I would have hardly called it 'aggressive'. I saw a market here on the station, the former manager had been unable to expand as directed so I came here personally to find out why. Boran had been a good shop manager, for the most part, but he was a terrible negotiator. The former neighbors to the original clothing shop had simply been willing to listen to a business opportunity."

"Found a market, huh?" Dorian said from the opposite side of Geral as he examined a tunic that was on display. "It seems like you manage to always find a market in the most volatile of places." Dorian said in a surprisingly calm voice. "It seemed that you came out of the Occupation better off than most of your kind." He added. "It's uncanny, really." Dorian said as he looked into the Bajoran's eyes.

Not blinking at all Geral retuned the gaze. "If history has shown anything it's that 'my kind' isn't put off by a little volatility. You also forget that, while not here personally, I had a business presence on the station for some time; so the happenings here were not unknown to me." After a brief pause Geral slowly turned his back to the man and stepped over to a shelf. Picking up a bottle of Deliciar he gestured to the station as a whole. "DS5 is on the frontier." Completing his slow rotation looked over to Dorian. "The frontier can be a dangerous as well as profitable place. I beleive it was a human that said, 'Good business is where you find it'."

Not waiting for a reply he presented the bottle to Melvyn. "I think you will enjoy this. It's a golden Port style wine from a small winery on Earth."

Melvyn graciously accepted the offering from the Bajoran.

"Ah yes, the never-ending struggle of managing employees." Melvyn said casually. "It is something that I'm quite familiar with, what with running such an expansive and active business on this station and elsewhere." He said. "In fact, Mr. Gabriel himself would be familiar with it too since he was the former Chief of Station Security." Melvyn said intently and with obvious emphasis.

"I'm not sure if you were aware of that. It has certainly come in handy to have such a resourceful employee at my disposal, especially considering the various characters that inhabit this station." Melvyn continued. While his words may have been neutral on their face, the look in his eyes showed that there was more meaning to them.

Melvyn had Dorian investigate Geral's background before they came into this flea market he called a shop. Unfortunately, Dorian was unable to find anything significant. Just scant mentions throughout the war and few invoices regarding prior transactions. It would take a person a considerable amount of time, effort, and especially resources to hide their past to such a degree. People who did that were typically people who had a lot to lose.

Having seen similar expersions before on the faces of others he'd dealt with. Many had simply been overconfident in their own imagined security and percieved power, others had had actual power, then there had been those that were somewhere in the middle. Anyone that actually paid attention knew the name of Melvyn Raddon and the Raddon Corporation and his the influence he carried. The relocation of his headquarter to a station of the very edge of Federation space had been ,and still was, a subject of rumor and debate.

Perhaps there was an opportunity here? If he could get on his good side perhaps he could get in on whatever he was planning. "I'm sure his experience has come in handy on more than one occation. Outsposts on the edge of things do tend to attract, as you said, 'various characters'. It takes a sharp eye to set up shop amongst them. Having been here longer than I; are there any characters you care to clue me in on?"

Melvyn smiled as he thought for several moments. "I would caution you to be aware of the owner of the "Box of Delights" establishment." Melvyn said in a less than enthusiastic tone. "It tends to attract the worst and most violent elements of this station." He added.

"The place should've been shut down years ago, but the owner was sleeping with the then-Ambassador for Cardassia, Tharek Getal." Dorian chimed in. "When you have that kind of influence sleeping in your bed you tend to become untouc---" Before Dorian could finish his sentence there was the sound of a series of explosions rippling through the far lower end of the promenade.

Concerned, Melvyn and Dorian stepped out of the shop and looked down to see towards the direction of the noise on the lower level. They immediately recognized the source of the chaos.

"The Box of Delights. . ." they said almost in unison. "Well, my friend, I guess you'll get to see for yourself what we're talking about." Melvyn said as he pointed towards the smoke billowing from the bar.

Geral looked down the promenade towards the disaster. "I see what you mean, but it's been my experience that no one is untouchable," he stated as emergency personnel rushed passed. "Perhaps I should call on the owner once things settled down. My network of suppliers could definitely redesign and resupply the bar if the owner plans to reopen that is. If I control her supply I could influence her to clean things up or act as a fly on the wall as it were."

Melvyn leaned back from the commotion and looked back towards Geral. The man was no novice to the intricacies of business. The suggestion itself was tame, it the implication was loud and clear: He wanted to own Yolanthe’s Bar.

Melvyn smiled as he walked back to the Bajoran. “Undoubtedly, the owner will resist your logic.” He said. “You May need the assistance of other influential business owners to help leverage the Promanade Merchant Association in your favor.” Melvyn added.

He returned the smile with a grin of his own. "I am already set to meet with the PMA management. As to the bars owner...you are probably right, at first anyway. Hardship can weaken the resolve of most. Besides," lefting a hand to his chest, "I'm only offering assistance."

“Hmm....I think I’ll join you in that meeting.” Melvyn said, boldly inviting himself. “I’d like to offer my assistance as well.” He said as he extended his hand. “I think such an endeavor would benefit from the financial backing of the Raddon Foundation.” He said.

Taking his hand firmly he found his interest curious. If hea was soo against the bar's owner why was he in favor of helping it reopen???. "Thank you, but I would prefer to meet with her myself...this time. Let me feel things out as it were. Too much assistance offered at one time might scare her off. Though i had planned to request a meeting of the PMA when I speak with the secretary. Surely you would want to attend that meeting.

The smirk never left the older man’s face. “Of course, I’ll have my office contact you to finalize the details” He assured the Bajoran. “Fowler now, it is probably best that we get going so I can tend to my establishment. It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” Melvyn said.

"The pleasure is mine." Geral watched him depart with his 'former security officer' in tow. The man had made him curious about seceral things, but one thing was for sure, he was dangerous. Looking again at the chaos down the promenade he turned to reassure his employees preparing for the opening that the stations personnel had everything well in hand.

---

Geral Lasuma
Owner - Lasuma Enterprises

Melvyn Raddon
CEO - Raddon Corporation

Dorian Gabriel
Head Security Consultant
Raddon Corporation

 

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