Chapter 19

Here they come, Fred thought, and he grabbed his control wand to lower the volume coming from the viewscreen.

It had become a late-afternoon ritual. As if on cue, a gaggle of regulars, just off their work shifts, exploded through the door. Males and females of a half-dozen different species waved to catch Fred’s attention and order their favorite libations before heading to the far end of the bar where the big fellow sat spinning stories of his adventures throughout the quadrant. The men leaned on the bar, guffawing and tossing in good-natured asides about the unlikely nature of the tales, while the females clustered around the tale-teller, laughing, sighing, or crying at his verbal dexterity as he described evocative visuals of the wonders that awaited them all, just out there, far beyond the stars.

He sure does have a way with people, Fred thought for the hundredth time.

A doll-like Arcadian that Fred knew to be a subspace frequency analyst climbed into the man’s lap, then stood up to lean on his shoulder as she whispered in his tiny ear. He responded by bursting into laughter, then launched into a story that most of his audience had heard before—and all seemed happy to hear again.

Fred smiled contentedly. I know he’s got to be full of vole feckles, he thought, but as long as he keeps shoveling it, and that crew keeps buying drinks, I’m going to be one wealthy Enteroli.

Behind the bar, the face of the female reporter from FNS, who was standing once again in the middle of Deep Space 9’s Plaza, flashed on the viewscreen. When Fred’s favorite customer saw her, he stopped in the middle of his story and asked Fred to turn up the audio.

“. . . stolen original scroll of the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition has been recovered on Deep Space 9. Two Dopterian suspects are in custody and will be transported to Ferenginar for trial. However”—the reporter paused as the image moved in for a close-up of her face—“there may be a strange new twist in this case. Rumors are spreading throughout the station suggesting that while the recovered scroll is indeed the artifact that Grand Nagus Rom brought to the station, it does not appear to be the priceless original scroll. It is, apparently, a clever forgery.

“The involvement of the Nagus and his brother, Ambassador Quark, in this new turn of events is unclear at this time. The Ferengi Council is said to want immediate answers.

“Please stay with the Federation News Service for updates. This is Eisla Davis, signing off.”

“Are you all right?” the tiny Arcadian addressed the big man. He didn’t answer. His focus was inward, on a memory from years earlier, a glimpse of himself holding a scroll: two scrolls, in fact—one in each hand.

Had he screwed up?

The crowd around him began to whisper among themselves, and the lovely young lady climbed out of his lap. She noticed that he kept looking at his hands, first one and then the other.

At last his perplexed audience drifted away. As his thoughts returned to the present, he pushed an unfinished martini aside.

Then he turned to Fred and ordered a large cup of raktajino, extra strong.