956 vgg

He had had a full crew compliment when he left the Breaker Yards, but now he carried the names of the dead back to their families. Only the self sacrifice of twenty of his crew and the loss of two shuttles had let the ship escape to limp home under cloak. The 'Flag' had been planted on Varga II as a claimed system for Frakk 'entepray', his employer. The Planet had tested as Class M, but barely. It could be colonized now that the energy creature had been lobbed into the next star over. He had personally watched as the shuttle and the Warrior he had piloting it dove into the star. He had screamed at the loss, as had the remaining crew.

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I screamed to the heavens when my captain returned from Varga II to deliver the news to me. I wanted to read his report, but it basically summed down to this. An Ion storm took out the first shuttle, causing it to crash on Varga II. Next, the energy creature was beamed into the second shuttle, and not knowing any different was driven at warp 4 into a nearby star. If not for the selfless actions of several of the crew, it might have transported itself onto the ship itself. That would have been a disaster.

The ship so far had only had a placeholder name until it was blooded. As the cloak had not been used, I offered the Captain a name for the ship. He took it with Honor. The 'lw lo'taHvlS was now a recognized ship with its own naming story. (Blood Sacrifice)

I had sent Kurn out to take more ships. I now sent the Blood Sacrifice out to do a detailed survey of the Varga system along with B-rel wej (three) to take samples and set up a preliminary camp. B-rel vagh (five) was set to return in three days with an old D7 for the breaker yards. When that was over with vagh would be packed and sent to aid the survey of the system.

-------------------

Dealing with the Ferengi Commerce Authority (FCA) was frankly a pain in the lobes. But it had to be done unless I wanted to cut ties with the Ferengi altogether. Cooking the books was mostly Nell's job in the household other than taking care of our children and keeping her ears open for business opportunities that I could exploit. She made no profit of her own, and I made sure to check all of her work before I sent in my yearly books to the FCA. Keeping a black fleet going for the Empire would only grow more complicated as I expanded into Federation space.He had had a full crew compliment when he left the Breaker Yards, but now he carried the names of the dead back to their families. Only the self sacrifice of twenty of his crew and the loss of two shuttles had let the ship escape to limp home under cloak. The 'Flag' had been planted on Varga II as a claimed system for Frakk 'entepray', his employer. The Planet had tested as Class M, but barely. It could be colonized now that the energy creature had been lobbed into the next star over. He had personally watched as the shuttle and the Warrior he had piloting it dove into the star. He had screamed at the loss, as had the remaining crew.

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killed the first three auditors that showed up from the FCA. I could only guess at what I had done to drawn their attention to me. When a man shows up saying that he's there to take your stuff, kill him. The first two threatened my pregnant wife, Nell, with selling her into indentured servitude. They likely thought that my secret books were her taking profit for herself. I disabused the third Auditor of the notion when I greeted him at the airlock.

That yes, I had secret books. And that yes, I was aware of what was in them. And that yes they were a part of my business that was being kept away from Ferengi Business Practices. And that no, he couldn't see them without signing a non-disclosure contract. He protested and was promptly blown out the airlock.

I contacted the Ferengi Commerce Authority and told them that unlike the previous two Auditors, this third one had pressed the wrong button after being stupid. That yes he was dead, and that yes I was still willing to be audited by a member of the FCA just as soon as they could send one that knew the value of a contract. In other words, to stop sending me the stupid ones that they wanted to get very dead.

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It was three months before the FCA sent me another Auditor. DaiMon Goss, the very same young DaiMon Goss that in about six years would flub the presumably stable wormhole negotiations showed up escorting Grand Nagus Zek to deal with me. Which put me in a bit of a bind. Zek was important to history, so I couldn't just kill him.

I had been expecting someone of lower stature, but perhaps I could swing this. This time I sent the non-disclosure contract over to his ship before he disembarked. Immediately I was hailed by both Zek and Goss. Grand Nagus Zek did the talking, "Frakk! What's the meaning of this contract that you sent over?"

I took a moment to compose myself, "Grand Nagus Zek, this is a surprise. I had expected someone to come, eventually, but you are definitely a surprise. The Contract? You sign it, or you don't get to board the station. Simple as that, really. The previous auditors had, shall we say, an interesting habit of ignoring contracts between Ferengi businessmen. The agreement that you should be holding just reinforces contracts that I have with non-Ferengi businesses. Break them at your peril. You will be signing the exact same document when you arrive in the airlock to ensure that there has been no tampering with the contract. And you will sign a similar one when you leave."

"I see, very well then this had better be worth it."

-------------------

DaiMon Goss, Grand Nagus Zek, and Zek's attendant/bodyguard were sitting quietly in my quarters. The children had been introduced with their mother, Nell, before she took them into another room. Two sets of books were sitting on my desk, "These are the current books for my businesses. Yes, I keep two sets. One is the clean set that gets sent to the FCA."

"And the Other Set?," Zek interrupted me.

"The other set is what all I currently own. I am under contract to not let the Ferengi government see just what is in this set. Breaking the contract of non-disclosure that all three of you signed could lead to a war with at least four of the local powers."

"I see," He said before turning, "DaiMon Goss, your services are no longer required. I'll catch a ride back to Ferenginar with one of Frakk's ships."

I witnessed Goss signing the document that he needed to sign, then saw him out. I returned back to my office and saw that the Grand Nagus had taken the opportunity to start reading my secret books. "Find anything interesting, so far Zek?"

He was still reading when he spoke, "I should fine you for not showing me proper respect, Frakk."

"Ah, but then you would have to have the stigma of being known as a contract breaker as well as an oath breaker. Two things that you do not want to be known for. And you didn't answer my question, Grand Nagus."

"Bah! Sometimes the answer really is more dangerous than the question. I see here that you've started the process of claiming two planetary systems for mining purposes. Tell me about them as I read."

"One system has a played out mine on the tidally locked first planet. The temperate zones are along the line between day and night. The system is off the major Federation trade routes, and had been abandoned by the company that had been running the mines previously. Habitable space is limited, but the Klingons want a world that can be colonized quickly if needs be. The FCA might have gotten wind of the acquisition if they had been paying attention to claimants in the Earth courts. No one in the Federation wanted it, so I took it for the low price of some lawyers and court fees. As it sits the system is currently not for sale to any Ferengi interests. I am merely the holding broker to get around some pesky treaties.

"The other system is more problematic. Klingons died taking it from a rather nasty energy being. Which means that they will be hesitant to let the Federation get their hands on it. Currently the habitable planet in the system is being surveyed for resources, and soon colonies will be set down in places of interest. I had planned to allow Ferengi families to settle on the as yet unnamed world. Or, rather there is a Federation designation of the Star's name, and my business partner and I are debating the name to give to the habitable planet. He wants to name it after the victory against the creature, and I want to sell the naming rights."

"Naming rights? What are those?"

"Well, think of them as nearly free advertising. A company, individual, or family purchases the right to name a building for a set period of time. A name in bright lights is then placed on the outside of the building and every time that someone goes to that building they will have to say the name of the company to get directions. After the set period is up, then that company, individual, or family gets first refusal on renewing their payment. They refuse, then the building gets the chance to look for a new name.

"There's more to it than just a name on the side of the building, but the same principle could apply to a planet I should think. Use the funds generated to reinvest in the development of the system which is money that I won't have to spend. Perhaps a list of acceptable names that the company can pick from? Still pondering it, really."

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Jun 17, 2019Report

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