Quark (Star Trek) - Career

Career

Before opening a bar, known as Quark's, on the station, Quark served as a cook aboard a Ferengi freighter for eight years. Quark came to the station while it was named Terok Nor during the Cardassian occupation of Bajor. Originally, Quark admired the Cardassian race for their version of morality, but later he seemed to take pity on the downtrodden Bajoran people, selling them food and equipment just above cost, which could have gotten him into serious trouble if the Cardassians had found out. When the station changed hands at the end of the occupation, Quark decided to leave the station. Commander Sisko, feeling that Quark's presence would encourage commercial tourism to boost the station's economy, exhorted Quark to stay, using his nephew, Nog as a bargaining chip, in the Deep Space Nine pilot episode, "Emissary". Quark nevertheless continued to conduct a variety of shady deals while on the station, but neither Sisko nor the Bajoran authorities took many punitive actions against him, perhaps because his contribution to station tourism outweighed the trouble caused by his activities, which were legal according to Ferengi law and, for the most part, harmed no one. A shrewd businessman, Quark often quotes the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition.

When the Bajoran wormhole was discovered, Quark helped broker deals between several Gamma Quadrant races and the Ferengi. The Alpha Quadrant's first knowledge of the Dominion came through business dealings that Quark and the Ferengi had in the Gamma Quadrant with the Karemma of the Dominion. Quark's role in these dealings came about as a result of the interference of Grand Nagus Zek. Quark became Grand Nagus for a brief period when it appeared that Zek had died; however, Zek's death turned out to be a ruse and Quark was promptly deposed. Along with Commander Sisko, Quark was also among the first to encounter the genetically engineered soldiers of the Dominion, the Jem'Hadar.

Quark repeatedly clashed with FCA (Ferengi Commerce Authority) liquidator Brunt, who believed that Quark was detrimental to Ferengi society and beliefs. The two met initially in a scandal involving Quark's mother Ishka, who had earned profit despite this being illegal for a female. Following this, Brunt was responsible for Quark receiving a savage beating at the hands of Nausicaan thugs. The attack was meant to coerce Quark into dissolving the employee union founded by his brother, Rom. Instead, Quark secretly honored many of the union's demands. Later, when Quark was falsely diagnosed with a fatal disease, Brunt anonymously bought the Ferengi bartender's remains six days in advance. When Quark discovered he was not dying and backed out of the contract, Brunt revoked Quark's business license with glee, but Quark's friends supplied him with all the equipment necessary to continue operating his bar anyway. (The license was later reinstated as part of a deal between Quark and Brunt to break up Zek and Ishka, who had begun a relationship.) When Brunt almost became Grand Nagus, Quark temporarily became a female named Lumba. This was in order to convince FCA commissioner Nilva that allowing Ferengi females to wear clothing was an opportunity for profit. Brunt did not believe the charade for a minute. Nilva, owner of Slugo-Cola: "The Slimiest Cola In The Galaxy!", on the other hand, was not just convinced, he chased Lumba amorously.

Apart from being involved in various illegal money-making ventures, Quark also served as an important source of information for the crew of the space station.