Snail Steak

Posted on Sat Feb 2nd, 2019 @ 10:42am by

Mission: MISSION 0 - History Speaks
Location: Deep Space Nine
2019 words - 4 OF Standard Post Measure

With Ludmilla by her side, Jessica felt a bit more confident about approaching strangers. She knew she had no real reason not to be, around here. She just had to get used to it. “Do you do this a lot?” she wondered.

“All the time.” Ludmilla replied, the question was strange to her, but she’d never had to live like Jessica had, “I mean, I used to go to all the coolest places in Moscow, the underground clubs and everything. This place? It’s nothing really, a hole in the wall that gets a rub from having a famous location.” She found a table near the bar for herself and Jessica, “So, what’ll you have?”

“Hm, a snail steak, with some slug-o-cola and tube grubs?” Jessica said. It sounded like something a Ferengi bar would keep in stock.

Ludmilla snickered, “I think you’re thinking of somewhere else.” She said, “Quark’s actually makes a really good Earth style pizza, why don’t we get one of those?”

“But, on the Ferengi ship that rescued me, they served that. It’s really good”, Jessica said. “But you have to watch the tube grubs, they can bite back.”

“Umm, okay, why not?” Ludmilla nodded, she was willing to try anything, though she hadn’t thought Jessica was serious, “Wait, did you say bite back?”

“The fresh ones, anyway. They’ve got jaws to bite into wood with”, Jessica said, referring to the mandibles of the larvae. “So you have to be careful when you eat them.”

“Okay.” Ludmilla said low, then turned to Jessica, determined to be as brave as her new friend, “Show me how?”

“Of course”, Jessica agreed. “Keep our seats warm, I’ll get them?” She headed for the bar to place the order. Waiting patiently for her turn was easy, even in this dress, as everyone seemed to be too busy to notice her. Or was that just her interpretation? She harrumphed. “Excuse me?”

Quark heard her, but he was more focused on the nearly bald blonde head across the way, ~Damn Delphine…~ He swore internally, ~I knew that was going to blow up on me eventually. I wonder if she’s willing to discuss a settlement….~ He turned his head to see a fairly pretty human woman standing at the bar, the same one that had been with Delphine a moment before, ~Must be her lawyer….~ He turned and put on his best smile, “Well, hello, Miss! Welcome to Quark’s! How can I help you tonight? Maybe a drink on the house?”

“That’s a good start, actually”, Jessica said, impressed with how easy this seemed to be. “Slug-o-cola, and snail steak, and fresh tube grubs, for two, is what we’ll be having. You do have those, for yourself and your staff at the very least, yes?”

“So you’re a connoisseur of Ferengi cuisine then!” Quark exclaimed in fake jubilation, “I’m always happy to share my culture with other species. Please, accept this meal as a sort of cultural exchange. My best waitress… I will deliver your meals personally. Oh, and send my compliments to Delphine!” With that he turned to leave, barking orders to the staff in his native tongue.

Puzzled, Jessica returned to the table. “Uhm, he’s giving us these meals for free”, she said, sitting back down. “I’m confused. Did you put him up to this? Do you know each other?”

“Nope.” Milla shook her head, “Maybe it’s the polished diamond effect? You look sexy now and he wants to make points. What else did he say?”

“He called you Delphine”, Jessica said. “This a nickname of yours?”

“Delphine?” She raised an eyebrow, she was now just as confused as Jessica, “Honey, I’ve got no idea. My sister has a friend named Delphine….” She struggled to remember any details, it was all so fuzzy, “Delphine and Quark have history, why last time I was here with Anje we didn’t come here. She didn’t say what though.”

“He’s really famous, isn’t he?” Jessica asked. “He’s like a celebrity bartender?”

“Of a sort.” Ludmilla shrugged, “I mean, a lot of the fame is the location. My Aunt’s Chief of Security at the Embassy was actually here during Operation Return. Dropped a Jem’Hadar only five meters from the entrance here.” It wasn’t something she would admit, because Ludmilla considered herself too cool to be intimidated by anybody, but Col. Tate intimidated the hell out of her, in a way no other woman ever did.

“What is a Jem’Hadar?” Jessica asked. She had not ever heard anything about a Dominion, about a fight to take or lose this station. History, almost a total blank with her.

“They were super soldiers bred by the Dominion to conquer everything in their path.” Ludmilla answered with a shudder, “Fierce to say the least. Almost animalistic.”

It was at the point Quark arrived at the table with a tray full of free Ferengi food for them, “And here you are, ladies.” He began, taking a bar of latinum out of his coat and sliding it to Delphine, “And do you think this would settle our issue?”

Without looking up, Ludmilla took the bar and placed it in her coat pocket, “I think we have no issues.” She said, “Thank you.”

“Well, that’s wonderful, Delphine.” Quark smirked, his teeth sharp and shiny, “So, you and your lawyer can enjoy your meal and we can forget all about that nasty lawsuit…”

“Mr Quark, what are you talking about?” Jessica wondered. She didn’t have the savvy, or the will, to do anything underhanded. She was just confused.

“Oh, come on, Counselor.” Quark protested, “Your client accepted the settlement offer! Plus I’ve even provided a wonderful meal… Don’t break my lobes here, please.”

“Uh, she’s not a lawyer.” Milla laughed, finally looking Quark dead in the face, “And I’m not Delphine, though I do now consider the issue of how you treated my friend earlier settled from my end.”

“Hey!” Quark barked, “You scammed me! I want my latinum back!”

“Oh, no, no.” Milla shook her head, “I can’t do that to you, force you to violate the rules of acquisition. You know, once you have their money…”

“Never give it back.” Quark sighed, knowing he had been beaten. No, knowing that he had beaten himself and they had just helped. Or really just watched, “Enjoy your meals, ladies.” He shrugged, then walked away muttering, “Miserable hew-mons…”

Jessica looked back and forth from Ludmilla to Quark several times, mouth agape. “What… was… that?!”

“I have no idea about the specifics.” Ludmilla laughed, “But the broad strokes are we just got paid to eat Quark’s food.”

“Are you sure there’s not going to be any legal trouble?” Jessica asked. “I mean, shouldn’t you at least give him his gold back?”

“He’d never accept it, he can’t.” Ludmilla replied, “It would be a slap in the face to his entire culture. For some reason he thought I was Delphine and he’s done something he’s worried about getting sued over. I don’t know what, and I don’t really know who Delphine is except she looks kind of like me, I guess. But, no, there won’t be any trouble.”

“Well, good”, Jessica said, somewhat put at ease. “You certainly showed him… something.” She picked up her fork. “Now, the snail steak is easy, just make sure you stab it properly first, like this, before you try to cut it.” She demonstrated, and the knife went through it easily, once the fork held it in place.

“Wow, nice.” Ludmilla whistled, Jessica could definitely handle a knife with the best of them. Mimicking what her new friend had shown her, she sliced off and took her first taste of slug steak. It wasn’t bad…. “Wow, that’s interesting. Got a pretty good taste actually.”

“The first, real, good food I’d had in a long while”, Jessica said. “And I enjoy it a lot.” To her, this dish would probably always taste like freedom. She took a bite, and it almost melted on her tongue. “Wow, this is really good. He must have been desperate to impress us.”

“Yeah.” Ludmilla snickered, “Makes you wonder what he did to piss this Delphine off so bad, doesn’t it?”

“Maybe he called her ugly, too?” Jessica asked. “I mean, even if he was right, it’s still not polite.” She grinned. “So I suppose a meal and some latinum are good compensation? Makes me feel pretty good about this.”

“I agree.” Ludmilla nodded, then slid the latinum across to Jessica, “You’re the aggrieved party here, this is rightfully yours.”

She looked at the shiny piece of gold. “How… how much is this even worth?” She knew her quarters were a hundred credits a week, which was money she didn’t have. And the replimat was free, which was always appreciated. But a bar of latinum? It sure looked big and shiny. It had to be worth a small fortune, probably more than she’d earn in a year or two.

“It’s about sixteen hundred credits.” Ludmilla replied, “Not a whole lot of money, but helpful to say the least.”

“1600…” Jessica echoed. “Four months rent. It’s a lot.”

“I guess when you look at it that way it really is.” Ludmilla said thoughtfully, she’d never had to worry about these things before, “Though we’re not going to be here much longer, so you can save some of that, get you through until you start receiving a regular income. And you can always come and stay with me at the Ambassadorial suite. That thing’s so big we can actually walk around for hours without seeing each other.”

While Jessica felt that was an exaggeration, those rooms were still huge. “I guess, it’s true.” She finished her steak and took a sip of the slimiest cola in the galaxy. “Maybe I’m lucky and they take me on the Elysium, then my worries will truly be over.”

“I’m sure they will.” Ludmilla reassured her, she knew Aunt Anje would move the stars to make that happen, “And then we can start getting you past all the bad stuff and on to a better life.”

“You can’t imagine the amount of relief I feel that that’s finally behind me”, Jessica said. “But I can’t, I won’t give up fighting for my people.”

“You don’t have to.” Ludmilla shook her head, “And you shouldn’t, either. You’re your people’s best hope.”

Jessica nodded. “I know. That’s what scares me.”

“You’re scared?” Ludmilla said, “According to Aunt Anje that’s a good thing. Means you’re thinking clearly.”

“Heh, and I’ve got a lot of experience being scared”, Jessica admitted. She finished her steak and moved on to the tube grubs, a convenient excuse to change the topic. “Now these, you must be careful to crush their heads between your teeth, like this.” She demonstrated, picking it up in the midsection, then opening her mouth wide enough to get the head between her molars, and squishing it before chewing.

“Umm, okay.” Ludmilla said, the idea of eating something live still a little strange to her. But, she did as Jessica showed her and found the grubs to be delicious, “Okay, now this is great. Did not expect this at all.”

“I told you it’s great”, Jessica beamed. She was happy to have given someone else some joy, for a change. She popped a few more in her mouth. Having friends, settling down, that would be great, she knew.

“You totally did.” Ludmilla giggled, tossing back a few more grubs of her own, it was good to have made a friend already, especially one who might be able to help her fix things with her sister, ~And maybe help me fix my sister.~