IKC FHew 7C6110
Training Room – Writing assistance
by Soghla' Marie St. Helene & Soghla' Terri (Tell) Hope
Post Details
Marie found Tell in Engineering. “I need your assistance. You don’t do much procurement work but you do do a lot of shopping and that involves a lot of haggling. I need to know how to do that honestly. I cheat and lie and manipulate people to get the best deal I can but I don’t think that’s what Starfleet would want its bright new graduates to hear.
"Ah, a young apprentice who wishes to learn. How can I teach you in minutes what has taken me a lifetime to perfect? Haggling is not just a mere dicker or a quibble. Some call it an art form and in some places it's used as currency; it's expected otherwise it's an insult. Training is important only then can you..."
“So far I’ve talked about body language and how to read it. I’ve dealt with hearing what a person’s really saying rather than just listening to what words they’re uttering. I’ve covered using your own body language to manipulate them: getting them to feel sorry for you; appearing to be poorer than you actually are; how to look like you’ll seal the deal if they make just one more concession.
“I’ll so some stuff on looking like you’re a local and can’t be fleeced like blow-ins from another planet can. I could also give them some hints on adopting local slang but how not to sound like a complete ass when you do so. I’d say something about knowing when to step back and accept a deal before it goes sour.”
"Well, that's all very well but where is your honour in all of this?" Tell asked. "Or should I say your Klingon honour?"
“Honour? I told you, I don’t use honour. Honour’s for losers. All honour does is set you up for each and every crooked dealer to rip you off. If you think you can be honourable and successful then I’ve got a starship to sell you. There’s an old saying: You can’t con an honest man. The corollary is: There’s a sucker born every minute.
"Marie, honour carries with it a great weight. For instance, admiration and respect, esteem and reputation to name but a few. If you have no honour then what do you have?"
“The same as what I had on Nouvelle Nouvelle Calédonie,” she replied sourly, “nothing. I’m held in scant esteem by this crew; they have little respect for me and even less admiration and my reputation is only as good as the next coup I pull off.”
Tell poured herself and Marie a drink, then sat down with her friend. "The Cap'n has pulled some tricks in his time but I think this beats all of them. We're not lecturers, for goodness sake, we're the damn crew. Where's the honour in that?"
Marie picked up her glass and pointedly stared into its depths. She tossed off the drink in one mouthful and held the empty glass out for a refill. “I get the impression ‘Ro wants this as much as we do. This is politics. Someone in House Matlh is manipulating him to get in better with the Federation.”
Tell refilled her own glass and that of Marie's. The liquid tasted smooth on her throat and it was going down to quickly for her liking. "I can lecture on engineering, music and even at a push, ballet. I suppose I am just going to have to blag about it."
“OK, I’ll talk about Honour: In victory lies Honour. A Klingon approaches trading as she would battle. She must use every skill she possesses, all her experience and superior tactics. That being said, there is no Honour in a Klingon using brute force to get her way in trading. She must meet the challenge of her opponent – the seller – and best him, not with her sword arm but with her mind and her wits. Only then is the victory Honourable. Only then will songs be sung in Sto Vo Kor about her deeds and exploits.
“That might not sound like a honourable deed for a warrior but trading is like field medicine. Without it, Birds of Prey are not fitted out; without it, warriors are not fed and nourished; without it, the Klingon Empire is open to any power – major or minor – that chooses to attack it because without it the Empire is left defenceless and unable to protect itself.
“How does that sound?”
"Sounds great, now you just have to spin it out to a couple of hours. Lucky you getting a head start. Want to see mine?"
Tell held up a Padd with one sentence on the screen that read, Care and maintenance of KDF tech. Hard to live with and can't live with out it. "Or I have another title for it Care and maintenance of KDF tech. Hard to work with and can't work with out it. Or I could just simply call it, Care and maintenance of KDF tech. Maintain it or die. I think the third one works better after all if you don't maintain it you die don't you?... You hate it don't you? What about this one, Do I give a flying fig if you maintain it or not? "
“Frankly, I don’t care what title you give it,” Marie replied. “As soon as you start talking, no-one else will either. They’ll be too busy listening to you. I do care if you maintain our tech though. You’ve gotten us out of more scrapes than I care to remember by getting the best out of it. That would be my approach: don’t tell them what Klingon tech can do, they already know that; tell them the things you’ve made it do. All those little tricks and workarounds that aren’t in any manual. Not yet, anyway.”
"It's a work in progress," Tell replied. "Still, I suppose your right. Maybe I suppose I've been looking at this the wrong way round.... OK, got it. No probs.... All sorted. Have another drink, Marie?"
“Thought you'd never ask.”
by Soghla' Marie St. Helene & Soghla' Terri (Tell) Hope
Post Details
| Title | Writing assistance | |
| Mission | Training Room | |
| Author(s) | Soghla' Marie St. Helene & Soghla' Terri (Tell) Hope | |
| Posted | Sat Apr 05, 2014 @ 10:11am | |
| Location | Engineering |
"Ah, a young apprentice who wishes to learn. How can I teach you in minutes what has taken me a lifetime to perfect? Haggling is not just a mere dicker or a quibble. Some call it an art form and in some places it's used as currency; it's expected otherwise it's an insult. Training is important only then can you..."
“So far I’ve talked about body language and how to read it. I’ve dealt with hearing what a person’s really saying rather than just listening to what words they’re uttering. I’ve covered using your own body language to manipulate them: getting them to feel sorry for you; appearing to be poorer than you actually are; how to look like you’ll seal the deal if they make just one more concession.
“I’ll so some stuff on looking like you’re a local and can’t be fleeced like blow-ins from another planet can. I could also give them some hints on adopting local slang but how not to sound like a complete ass when you do so. I’d say something about knowing when to step back and accept a deal before it goes sour.”
"Well, that's all very well but where is your honour in all of this?" Tell asked. "Or should I say your Klingon honour?"
“Honour? I told you, I don’t use honour. Honour’s for losers. All honour does is set you up for each and every crooked dealer to rip you off. If you think you can be honourable and successful then I’ve got a starship to sell you. There’s an old saying: You can’t con an honest man. The corollary is: There’s a sucker born every minute.
"Marie, honour carries with it a great weight. For instance, admiration and respect, esteem and reputation to name but a few. If you have no honour then what do you have?"
“The same as what I had on Nouvelle Nouvelle Calédonie,” she replied sourly, “nothing. I’m held in scant esteem by this crew; they have little respect for me and even less admiration and my reputation is only as good as the next coup I pull off.”
Tell poured herself and Marie a drink, then sat down with her friend. "The Cap'n has pulled some tricks in his time but I think this beats all of them. We're not lecturers, for goodness sake, we're the damn crew. Where's the honour in that?"
Marie picked up her glass and pointedly stared into its depths. She tossed off the drink in one mouthful and held the empty glass out for a refill. “I get the impression ‘Ro wants this as much as we do. This is politics. Someone in House Matlh is manipulating him to get in better with the Federation.”
Tell refilled her own glass and that of Marie's. The liquid tasted smooth on her throat and it was going down to quickly for her liking. "I can lecture on engineering, music and even at a push, ballet. I suppose I am just going to have to blag about it."
“OK, I’ll talk about Honour: In victory lies Honour. A Klingon approaches trading as she would battle. She must use every skill she possesses, all her experience and superior tactics. That being said, there is no Honour in a Klingon using brute force to get her way in trading. She must meet the challenge of her opponent – the seller – and best him, not with her sword arm but with her mind and her wits. Only then is the victory Honourable. Only then will songs be sung in Sto Vo Kor about her deeds and exploits.
“That might not sound like a honourable deed for a warrior but trading is like field medicine. Without it, Birds of Prey are not fitted out; without it, warriors are not fed and nourished; without it, the Klingon Empire is open to any power – major or minor – that chooses to attack it because without it the Empire is left defenceless and unable to protect itself.
“How does that sound?”
"Sounds great, now you just have to spin it out to a couple of hours. Lucky you getting a head start. Want to see mine?"
Tell held up a Padd with one sentence on the screen that read, Care and maintenance of KDF tech. Hard to live with and can't live with out it. "Or I have another title for it Care and maintenance of KDF tech. Hard to work with and can't work with out it. Or I could just simply call it, Care and maintenance of KDF tech. Maintain it or die. I think the third one works better after all if you don't maintain it you die don't you?... You hate it don't you? What about this one, Do I give a flying fig if you maintain it or not? "
“Frankly, I don’t care what title you give it,” Marie replied. “As soon as you start talking, no-one else will either. They’ll be too busy listening to you. I do care if you maintain our tech though. You’ve gotten us out of more scrapes than I care to remember by getting the best out of it. That would be my approach: don’t tell them what Klingon tech can do, they already know that; tell them the things you’ve made it do. All those little tricks and workarounds that aren’t in any manual. Not yet, anyway.”
"It's a work in progress," Tell replied. "Still, I suppose your right. Maybe I suppose I've been looking at this the wrong way round.... OK, got it. No probs.... All sorted. Have another drink, Marie?"
“Thought you'd never ask.”