Looking to Sell ((Matthews/Caine))

[C.T. Caine 0]

It had taken, unfortunately, more time than Caine would have liked to finally manage to get herself and Buddha into a Ryder-Presit restaurant where the food seemed unlikely to make them both eject most of it soon after consuming. The first one they walked into -- some distance from the establishments they had already frequented -- had resulted in some strange looks, given their clothes smelling of booze and smoke and their generally dilapidated demeanor. This had therefore resulted in the necessity of going back to Agincourt for a change of clothes, and the temptation to just stay there and make use of the mess hall had been quite strong.

 

However, there was more to be gained than just a hot meal by hanging around on Ryder-Presit a little further, so Caine had insisted they head back, which was how she and Buddha now found themselves in the entryway of a restaurant called, as best Caine was able to translate it from the mix of Rihan and Orion on the sign, the "Silver Bullet Buffet."

 

"Cheerful," she said wryly, walking in and grabbing a seat at one of the tables, which she noted with pleasure were somewhat less grimy than those she had been staring at for the past day or so.

 

"At least we won't be meeting any vampires in there," Owen said with a wide grin as pulled out a chair for Caine. He was also looking forward to a good meal.

 

"That's werewolves," Caine corrected with a grin, settling down into the seat with a nod of thanks. "Vampires are still an issue, so be sure to order something with lots of garlic..."

 

"Werewolves, vampires, same difference if you ask me." Owen sat down, too and looked around to see whether the waiter had noticed them. "I hope this is gonna be better than the replicated stuff we get back on the ship."

 

"It'll be...different, at any rate," Caine said dryly, looking up as a dark-haired woman of indeterminate mixed race approached their table with a bored expression and a battered-looking padd-type device. Looking between Caine and Owen skeptically, she launched into a short speech, clearly rote by the lack of implicit punctuation.

 

"Special of the day is Viinerine with Antaran glow water and a side of Ferengi snail steak here at the Silver Bullet where we serve all species and all tastes, my name is Herena and I'll be your server today how may I take your order?"

 

"Sounds delightful," Caine said with a faint placid smile. "What'll you have, my friend?" she asked, glancing at Owen and straightening up slightly, getting into character.

 

Owen put on the best fake smile he could muster. "I think I'll go with the special of the day. Nothing like a good meal before doing business."

 

Caine nodded slowly and glanced at the waitress briskly. "Same for me. And...ah...hold the steaks..." The waitress grunted and walked off and Caine leaned back in her seat, looking at Owen, pitching her voice to let it carry slightly to nearby tables in the restaurant. "A good meal's worthwhile. Like I told you, though, I'm skeptical we'll find any business worth having on this scrap-heap of a planet. Doubt most of these people can even afford a shuttle, let alone our scale of merchandise."

 

They had planned this out beforehand; Toni had said some figure in the background of Ryder-Presit's economy was cornering the market on ship sales in the system. To coin a phrase, it seemed only logical that they should try to approach things from the other angle; rather than trying to find someone who was selling, she and Buddha needed to find out who was buying.

 

"Yeah," Owen said, nodding. "I'm beginning to ask myself why we even bothered to come here." He fell silent as the waitress arrived with their appetizers and drinks. When she was gone again he leaned across the table a little. "We should leave and check out some other systems."

 

"Why we bothered to come here? This was your idea," Caine retorted, letting some aggravation creep into her voice, though her eyes held amusement unseen by any who might be listening to them. "Said they would be jumping out of their skins to get a piece of us...three hijacked Fed cruisers is nothing to sneeze at. And yet...no one seems willing to bite."

 

"Maybe noone here's got the guts to do some risky business. But these cruisers are top notch. I really thought we'd have quite a few potential buyers. Maybe we should see what the Ferengi will offer." Owen took a bite of something he couldn't quite identify, seemingly unconcerned with his surroundings.

 

Caine's sharp Vulcan hearing picked up a low snort from the booth behind her, and she made a subtle motion to Owen to indicate that she they should keep going. "Yeah...the Ferengi. Slimy little trolls but at least they do better business than these people, don't know a deal when they see one."

 

Owen nodded. "We should have accepted the offer we got a week ago. It was not as good as as I'd hoped but at least those guys were willing to pay some credits. Maybe we should tell them we made up our mind, what do you think?" He could hardly keep from grinning so Owen picked up his glass and drank, effectively hiding his amusement.

 

Caine kicked him gently under the table and was about to make a joke at his expense when a low voice caught her ear behind her. "You'd be making a mistake, you know."

 

A man wearing a dark hooded jacket and beat-up pants swiveled in his seat and grabbed Caine gently by the shoulder. "You're new in town, aren't you? Because clearly you don't know where to look. You see, only one fellow buys ships in this system, and the others stay out if they know what's good for 'em."

 

Caine arched her back slightly to pull her shoulder from the man's grip and gave him a searching look. "You know this guy, then?" she asked him casually. "What's his name? Can you put us in touch with him?"

 

The man's white teeth flashed in the shadow that hid his face. "There are those who call him Tim. When they call him anything at all. And I can get you in touch...for the right price."