Quark's

Quark's Bar, Grill, Gaming House and Holosuite Arcade (commonly known simply as Quark's) was a popular recreational facility located on the space station Deep Space 9.

Overview

Quark's was the multi-level, vibrant and popular central attraction of Deep Space 9's Promenade, drawing crowds of travelers and station inhabitants with its offerings of drink, food, gossip, gaming and fantasy fulfillment. The proprietor of the establishment was Quark, a Ferengi entrepreneur, and sometimes petty criminal, who was the eternal thorn in the side of the station's Chief of Security, Odo. Despite his dalliances on the wrong side of the law, Quark was a capable and amiable host, and his bar was usually one of the most popular places for recreation on the station.

Business in Quark's was conducted in gold pressed latinum. The bar sometimes featured live music, and occasionally offered cut-price drinks during "happy hour." According to a very small sign above the main entrance, the establishment was not responsible for the loss of any personal items. When Quark's brother Rom offered to buy the bar in 2375, Quark told him that 5,000 bars of latinum (and not one slip more) was a fair price for it.

Layout

The establishment occupied a central position on the Promenade, extending over three stories, with entrances on at least two. According to the station's computer, Quark's was located on Level 7, Section 5.

• Level 1 - The main entrance to Quark's was on Level 1, together with the bar, various gambling tables and a number of tables and chairs. The main entrance, bar and gambling area were brightly lit, while lighting in the periphery was more subdued, so as to provide a degree of privacy, for the business deals and covert exchanges that occurred there.

• Levels 2 and 3 - The upper levels provided more tables and seating, and housed the holosuite arcade. There was also a second-level entrance from the Promenade.

• The inside of Quark's was dominated by a large distinctive yellow and red mural, and decorative brass poles. Part of the mural also served as the bar's logo, and was sometimes displayed on information screens embedded into the walls.

• • A large number of drinks and brightly colored drinking glasses were stored behind the bar, along with two replicators, a computer access terminal, and a selection of isolinear rods containing programs for use in the holosuites upstairs.

Gaming

Also operating as a casino, a number of gaming tables were located on Level 1.

Quark regularly ran betting pools, including taking bets on a fight between Benjamin Sisko and Q; "springball" and darts matches between Julian Bashir and Miles O'Brien; the outcomes of Odo's security investigations; the time of return of Worf and Ezri Dax to the station after they were kidnapped by the Breen; and Bajoran elections for the new Kai. When Colonel Kira Nerys took command of the station in 2375, she made all betting pools illegal.

Holosuites

The upper levels of Quark's housed a holosuite arcade. Credit for use of the holosuites could be purchased at the bar, as could a number of enticing holographic programs.

The holosuites were often used by visitors to Quark's for programs of an adult (sensual, and even sexual) nature, while residents of the station and members of its crew used them for more benign recreations. Chief Miles O'Brien regularly went kayaking in the holosuites (sometimes accompanied by Odo), while Doctor Julian Bashir enjoyed playing the lead in a series of holonovels about a British secret agent. O'Brien and Bashir eventually combined their love of holoprograms, and spent hours together in the holosuites recreating old Earth battles.

Quark claimed that the only person on the station who could keep his holosuites in working order was his brother Rom. Because Quark did not allow him to buy new components, Rom found it necessary to patch the holosuites' circuitry using components salvaged from all over the station, including such diverse items as cooking utensils and Star Fleet LCARS interface panels. Rom was instrumental in the rescue of the senior crew in 2372, after their transporter patterns were dumped into one of Bashir's personal holo-programs. After Rom left Quark's employ and started to work on the station's engineering crew, maintenance of the holosuites suffered due to Rom's busy schedule. Captain Sisko was injured by a plasma burst in one of the holosuites in 2373, due to its poor state of repair.

History

Terok Nor

Quark opened (or assumed ownership of) the bar some time prior to 2363, during the latter years of the Cardassian Occupation of Bajor, when the station was under Cardassian control and was known as Terok Nor. While the Bajorans existed in squalor in a ghetto zone on the Promenade, the Cardassian soldiers laughed, gambled, drank and lauded it up in the bar and holosuites at Quark's.

Quark did what he could to earn a profit, but was not blind to the plight of those around him. He sometimes hired Bajorans to perform menial tasks for a few slips of latinum, and sold black market goods to those who could pay. He was known to put a little extra into food parcels, and was even described by one Bajoran woman who lived on Terok Nor as "kind."

In 2369, the Cardassians withdrew from Bajor, and Terok Nor was ransacked, stripped of anything valuable, and then abandoned. Four Promenade merchants were killed during the carnage and, fearful that the change in government on the planet below would put them in danger, Quark and his staff packed up their belongings and prepared to leave.

Federation Control

In the aftermath of the Cardassian withdrawal, the Bajoran Provisional Government invited Star Fleet to take over administration of the station. Desperately in need of a way to bind the station's remaining inhabitants together, and transform it from a place of suffering and slavery into one of peace and prosperity, new station commander Benjamin Sisko persuaded Quark to stay and re-open the bar, effectively turning the Ferengi into a community leader. The bar and its proprietor soon became accustomed to life under Star Fleet governance, though Quark did sometimes try to bend the rules.

Despite the occasional run-ins with authority, Quark's was an integral and successful part of Deep Space 9. Quark himself even celebrated when Bajor's petition to join the Federation was accepted in 2373, and a celebration was held in the bar. Quark expected Bajor's admittance to the Federation to be good for business.

Wartime

During the Second Battle of Deep Space 9, at the end of 2373, Star Fleet withdrew from the station, and it was abandoned to the Dominion. The station reverted to its Cardassian designation of Terok Nor and remained under Cardassian-Dominion occupation for around five months. Although Quark's was stripped of dome supplies, it remained open, and was relatively unaffected by the change in administration. Rom returned to his role of Assistant Manager of Policy and Clientele as a cover, while he committed acts of sabotage against the Dominion. Quark plied Cardassian customers with drinks, and then passed that information on to a resistance movement, formed by Kira Nerys. The bar was heavily damaged during a massive brawl between Cardassian and Jem'Hadar soldiers, triggered by the machinations of the resistance. Star Fleet eventually took back the station in 2374, and old regulars resumed their patronage.