by Jeff Sims
Jack said, “Whew, I’m glad we didn’t have to find out exactly what that third light actually meant.”
Ella smiled in response.
The gravity changed direction on this side of the archway. What had previously been the relative directions been of up and down were now switched 90 degrees. Looking back through the arch, it appeared that the corridor was now on the wall.
Both Ella and Jack felt momentarily disoriented, but quickly got used to the new direction once they stopped looking at the arch. They were standing on a small mezzanine overlooking the next section of the station. There were several electromagnetic lefts that led down to the lower level.
To this point, they had not encountered a single being. However, this changed the moment they crossed the threshold. They looked down and saw a busy, populated station. Jack commented, “So this is where everyone is.”
There were two main, perpendicular thoroughfares each running the length of the station. Viewed from above, they formed an X with an enclosed area in the exact center that contained the main cargo corridor. The thoroughfare was filled with shops, offices, and restaurants.
They climbed onto one of the electro lifts and were gently lowered to the floor of the next section. Ella checked her device when they reached the bottom and announced that they were exactly ½ way through the sphere. The lifts deposited them very near the center of the X of the main thoroughfares.
Jack had a sudden thought and asked, “Did your device account for the fact that we were walking on a moving sidewalk?”
Ella thought for a moment, shook the device a few times, and rechecked the readings. They didn’t change. Ella responded, “I really don’t know. Let’s just record the speed of the conveyor before we leave. The Naval Intelligence Office can figure it out.”
There was a large monitor that displayed a graphical representation of this part of the station. It displayed the name of each establishment in various color codes – blue for restaurants, green for clothing shopping, etc. Jack reviewed the schematic and didn’t immediately see what he was looking for. He said, “Computer, show the location of the Cargo Mercantile.”
The computer didn’t respond to their request. Jack looked around and noted that everyone he saw was Hiriculan. The time he spoke into his com pad and said, “Computer, please translate my previous statement into Hiriculan.”
…Please restate your previous sentence…
Jack held his com pad close to his mouth and said, “Computer, tell the other computer to show the location of the Cargo Mercantile.”
The com pad relayed the message in Hiriculan to the monitor and it displayed the location of the Mercantile. Fortunately, the place wasn’t very far from their current location. In fact, it was literally the next store to the right. Jack looked to the right and saw the store. The name was written in Hiriculan, but the inside layout and function was exactly like those in the Alliance.
Ella said, “Do we have to do that first? I want to start investigating.”
Jack replied, “Remember, our cover is that we are merchants. The first thing that any freighter captain wants to do is post his excess or unpurchased cargo for sale. That is why the cargo mercantile is located right beside the entryway.”
They walked a few steps and entered the mercantile. There were monitors on the left side showing cargoes for sale and monitors for sale on the right showing cargo items that were desired. The corresponding sale price or desired purchase price was listed beside each item.
Jack scanned the board and realized, once again, that it was written in Hiriculan. He understood why the Alliance worked so diligently to establish and maintain a common language. It was frustrating to rely on technology to have a conversation or read a monitor.
Jack took his com pad and scanned the items that beings wanted to purchase. He instructed the computer to translate them to Alliance basic. He could have requested Solarian, but somehow his mind functioned better in Alliance basic when dealing with merchandise.
Ella looked over at his com pad and said, “Well, anything exciting?”
Jack exclaimed, “Yes. There are three different offers for Advranki sea moss. I can sell my entire load immediately.” He was just about to tell her the prices, but he paused for a moment. Did she need that information?
Ella asked, “What are the prices?”
Apparently she did. Jack responded, “If I calculated the currency difference between Alliance and Hiriculan correctly, I should make a profit of about $50 a metric ton or $514,200 Alliance dollars. However, I think I will lose a considerable amount on the currency exchange.”
Ella asked, “What about the Solarian goods in the 2nd hold?”
Jack briefly scanned the wanted list a second time and answered, “Nothing immediate. I will have to post them for sale.” Jack then said into his com pad, “Computer, execute sale of sea moss to the highest posted bidder.”
…Unable to comply. You must visit one of the representatives working at the exchange.”
Jack turned and looked into the interior of the store. Against the back wall were 5 booths. Two booths were currently manned, or to be technically correct, womanned. The clerk on the left was helping a group of three Hiriculans, so Jack walked up to the Hiriculan female on the right.
The mercantile representative said something unintelligible. Jack looked down at his com pad and asked it for a translation.
…How can I help you…
Jack said, “Computer, translate my words to Hiriculan. Madam, we recently arrived on the station and would like to sell our cargo. However, I am having difficulty completing the automated transfer.”
The receptionist responded back and com pad translated, “What is your ship’s name?”
Jack replied, “The Jackal.”
The clerk typed several keys and scanned her monitor. After a few moments, she replied, “Ah yes, I see the problem. You cannot sell merchandise on this exchange unless it has been verified and is located in a warehouse on the station.”
Jack: How much to rent a warehouse and have the load verified?”
Clerk: Based on the size of your holds, you will need a type 3 warehouse for the sea moss and a type 2 for the other items. Listed on the monitor beside you are the prices for the warehouse and load verification. Please note that you must rent the warehouse for a minimum of one week.”
Jack scanned the prices with his com pad and did some quick conversions. The prices were high, but not extravagant. The warehouses and inspections were going to cost him $80,000, provided he could sell all of his cargo in a week.
Even with the added expense for the two warehouses, he would still have a sizeable profit just from the sea moss. However, the thought of renting an entire warehouse for a load of sea moss for what would amount to about an hour bothered him.
Ella must have been thinking the same as Jack for she said, “Jack, just rent the type 3 warehouse for the week. We can unload the sea moss, then when it sells, we can unload the Solarian cargo.”
Jack turned to Ella and said, “Thank you. That is an excellent suggestion.” He then told the receptionist he wanted to rent one type 3 warehouse and have a load inspected.”
The clerk responded, “There is still a problem. You must have a bank account at the mercantile and an account balance large enough to cover the cost of the inspection.”
Jack had the clerk open an account in his name and transferred enough money to cover both the price of the warehouse and the inspection.”
The clerk verified that everything was correct and complete and ordered a crew to begin unloading the sea moss from the Vista’s main hold. Jack set-up a one-time access code for the unloading crew to enter the main hold and gave it to her. He instructed the Jackal’s computer to keep the door from the control room to the main hold locked.
She thanked Jack for his business and said, “You should go next door and buy facial translators. The com pad is an inelegant method of communicating.”
Jack thanked h
er for the advice and they turned to leave. Jack asked Ella, “What is a facial translator?”
Ella responded, “I have no idea. Let’s check it out.”
They entered the store next door and were immediately greeted by someone speaking Alliance basic. The store owner said, “Hello, you are new to the station I presume?”
Jack nodded and simply said, “Yes.”
The owner continued, “And you want to talk to Hiriculans I am guessing?”
Jack again simply said, “Yes.” For some reason this being’s habit of ending sentences with questions was annoying him. Still though, at least he was speaking Alliance basic.
The owner continued, “The facial translator translates words spoken from one being to another. You stand next to someone and activate the translator by pressing it with your tongue. It sends a signal to the person you are directly facing. That person in turns answers their translator with a tongue press and the two of you are linked.”
Ella interrupted with “Linked?”
“Yes, linked,” the owner answered. “The facial translator will only translate words spoken by linked units. You wouldn’t want to hear everyone’s speech, would you?”
Ella responded with a less than convincing, “I guess not.”
The owner seemed to have ignored the response. It was clear that the sales pitch was reaching the denouement. The owner said, “It can translate three languages – Hiriculan, Alliance basic, and Neto.”
Ella interrupted with “Neto?”
Jack wanted Ella to stop interrupting with questions, but at least she was preventing the annoying shop owner from asking them. Jack decided to cut the rest of the sales pitch short. He said, “We will each take one. How much are they?”
The owner said, “A steal at $10,000 Alliance apiece. They will last several years and wont’ affect your sense of taste in the slightest.”
Ella interrupted with “Why does the facial translator speak Neto?”
The owner looked at her as if she was daft and said, “So that you can have a conversation with a Neto. What other purpose would there be?”
Jack suddenly realized that Ella was trying to gather some information. The fact that Hiriculans felt the need to talk with a far less advanced race could be significant. He asked politely, “Do you get many Neto merchants here?”
Jack knew very little about the Neto race. What he did know was that the Neto had discovered electricity and rudimentary electronics and hadn’t mastered flight yet. Based on his years of research of humanity, he would place Neto society on par with Earth at the turn of the 20th century, probably 1910 or so. Therefore, there was no way that the station owner would get any Neto merchants unless something had dramatically changed.
The owner responded, “No merchants. However, since the Hiriculan / Neto Treaty of Cooperation, many Netos have chosen to leave their planet and work on Hiriculan merchant vessels. It is a great way for the Netos to get experience and employment, wouldn’t you say?”
Jack wouldn’t say anything. Instead he asked, “Well, how do you install them?”
The owner helped Ella to a chair in the middle of the store and asked her to open her mouth as wide as possible. He then inserted what appeared to be a thin wire inside her mouth. He attached it at the top right of her cheek so that it made contact with her ear.
He then threaded the wire down the inside of her right cheek and stopped at the top of her jawbone. He applied some quick sealing epoxy to cement it in place and keep it protected. Jack switched places with Ella and the owner repeated the procedure.
When he finished, he showed them how to use their tongues to activate the unit. Finally, he said something in Hiriculan very softly.
Jack heard, “You can understand me, yes?”
Jack replied, “Yes. I can understand you. My unit seems to be working.”
Ella answered, “I can also understand you.”
Jack said, “Well, that is because I am speaking in Alliance basic. You should be able to understand me.”
Ella said, “Oh.”
The owner looked at Ella and sent her a connection request. Ella accepted and heard the owner say, “You have pretty eyes.”
She replied, “Thank you. I can understand you.”
Jack paid the owner for both translators. He was surprised that Ella didn’t have any money of her own. He was starting to get a little angry that the Alliance had sent her on a secret mission without any money.
Oh well, he was fairly confident that he could bury this expense on his expense report. He would file it under emergency dental work or something medical sounding. He made sure that he obtained an itemized receipt before leaving.
As they exited the store, Ella pointed out a nearby restaurant and said, “I’m hungry. Let’s eat before deciding our next step.”
They entered the restaurant and noticed the place was crowded. Jack looked at his com pad and noted that it was a traditional eating time. The maître de informed them that despite the hour, they were in luck because he still had a table available.
Once they were seated, Jack asked, “What’s the special today?”
The maître de responded, “You two are in for real a treat. Today’s special is Advranki sea moss. We just had a fresh batch delivered today.”
Chapter 6
Crista announced, “Lorano is hailing you.”
Victor replied, “Put it on the main view screen.” He doubted that it was a private message. Lorano simply didn’t like talking to Crista.
Victor didn’t wait for Lorano to talk. As soon as the connection was made, he said, “Are the force fields in place?”
Lorano responded, “Yes. You are free to enter without fear of getting noticed and/or attacked by any humans.”
Victor displayed some false bravado and replied, “I’m not scared of them. I just don’t want them to know that the owner of Victory Games is not human.”
Victor realized that he left himself wide open to one of Lorano’s famous Solarian / human jokes. He quickly cut the connection before Lorano could deliver the witticism.
Crista programmed the Vista’s hyperspace drive with the false coordinates. She then cringed as Victor slapped himself. The collar overwrote the false coordinates with the corrected coordinates for Earth. They set the mini-freighter’s hyperspace controls on a six hour delay.
Victor turned to Crista and announced, “All hands, abandon ship.”
Crista smiled at Victor’s dramatic statement. She replied, “Aye, Captain.”
The Vista was going to make the jump to Earth a few hours behind the Sunflower and then stay parked smack dab in the middle of the Earth - Waylon hyperspace lane. Since every being that knew of the secret hyperspace route from Waylon to Earth was soon to be on board the Sunflower, there was little fear of discovery. The odds that anyone would travel to Waylon in the next month, find the secret route to Earth, jump there and discover the ship were beyond astronomical.
After Lorano and Carank returned to the Sunflower and secured the humans, they hastily packed their bags and set the space garden on automatic. Since they had recently spent so much time tending the garden, it should be fine for a month without them.
Crista finished painting her face blue and handed the cream to Victor. She said, “Are you sure we have to disguise ourselves as Solarians. It is going to be a pain to constantly switch back and forth once we land.”
Victor started covering himself. He responded, “Yes. Acting Captain Clowy will immediately suspect something is out of place if we show up with white skin. Remember what Lorano told us. We will have to fool her into thinking that we are going somewhere other than Earth. Having white skinned Solarians on board could make her suspicious.”
Crista made a face and Victor continued, “Besides, Lorano said that he had a plan.”
Victor finished painting his face and hands and carted the luggage to the airlock. He took a deep breath, grabbed the sides of the airlock tube, and pushed himself forward. He flew weight
less for a moment across the distance between the two ships and then soared through the opening into the other ship. He made a nice, clean roll landing and hardly interrupted the caribou standing in Sunflower’s main corridor.
Crista then pushed all of the luggage across the opening one at a time. Victor caught them and set them aside. Finally, Crista leaped across. Her attempt wasn’t particularly graceful, but at least she managed not to bounce from side to side. Victor caught her in a bear hug and carefully set her down on her feet. Victor then ordered the Vista to lock all ports and go into autonomous mode. Finally, he activated the switch that closed the airlock door and automatically retracted the inflatable passageway.
They dragged their bags to the bridge. Victor knew that Lorano was probably monitoring them and could have come and offered to help. Oh well, at least they had offered the use of the Sunflower.” Victor entered the bridge and even though he knew there were only 3 beings aboard, he was nevertheless surprised that there were only 3 beings aboard.
Carank spoke first. He said, “You already know Lorano and me. Let me introduce Clowy. She is acting captain of the Sunflower. Clowy, this is Victor Bullpeep and his wife Crista.”
Clowy turned to Victor and said, “Are you two married?”
Victor looked at her strangely and responded, “Yes, we have been married for just over 7 months. We are going to celebrate our one year anniversary soon.”
Clowy asked, “Have you two been married long?”
Crista was turning red. She looked as if she was going to slap Clowy out of the captain’s chair, so Victor quickly stepped between them and answered, “Less than a year. How about you?”
Clowy responded, “Me what?
Victor responded, “Are you married?”
Clowy said, “No. Not yet. I’m still looking. My mother is pressuring me to date the single guy in the apartment next to her on Altian 2, but I haven’t had the chance to return home and meet him.”
Victor started to respond, but Clowy kept going. She said, “My other blue friend is pressuring me to date Lorano. She thinks we would make a cute couple – beauty and brains. I don’t know if it would work out though, he is rather rude at times.”
