"How do you keep the paths clear?" I asked as we climbed up the uneven surface. My prosthetic foot had been rubbing against my leg due to the uneven terrain and the high gravity. It was becoming increasingly sore.
"We cut them with long knives. It is a daily exercise," he said, arriving at a door just off the path. "Every young person on Nannandry knows how to tend a path."
The lighting inside his warehouse was poor and I pulled my helmet up so that I could have the benefit of my lamps. Haik brought his hands up to shield his face from the bright light.
"My apologies, Mr. Torigan. My eyes are not used to the dim light of your world," I said.
"It is to be expected. Not only have our ancestors adapted to the heavy gravity, but our eyesight has adapted to the lower light," he said.
"How did that happen?" Nick asked. "Three or four centuries isn't enough time for an evolutionary change."
"It is not something we think about much. But, there are rumors of genetic manipulation," he said.
"That's illegal," Tabby said.
"Perhaps."
The pallets in front of me were stacked with biological material. Some of it was stranded for textile production, some pulped and then there were vats of not-so-great smelling stuff. I inspected twenty of the forty crates and found that the differences were well within tolerance for what I was looking for.
"How will you deliver this to the ship?" I asked. I couldn't imagine how they would lift the crates in this gravity and move it up or down the path we'd just traversed.
"Our trade will have a very positive affect on this week's economy within Nannandry. I've hired our strongest porters to move the material and they will carry the pallets to your ship on my say so," he said.
"It appears you are a few crates short of what we agreed upon," I said.
"Not to worry, my friend. I was required to purchase the balance from one of my competitors, but you will have what we bargained on. Now that I have shown you my material, I would very much like to confirm your payment," he said.
"Certainly. Let's meet at the ship in two hours and we can conclude our business," I said.
We shook hands at the door and left him at his warehouse, returning the way we'd come. My AI had already figured out that we were returning to the ship and provided small directional clues through the HUD.
"I saw you sampling the material. Did it all check out?" Nick asked.
I pinched off the AI's analysis of what we'd seen. If anything, the material was a higher quality than I'd been promised. We would make a better profit than I'd originally expected.
"Look out," Tabby said as a small kid darted in front of us. He was being pursued by a heavier, older kid.
"Thanks," I said to her.
I watched as the small, unusually thin kid ran, taunting the older one. He was allowing the heavier kid to stay within range, but not so close as to allow him to be grabbed. They were running directly at a heavy wall of vegetation and I wondered if the small kid actually saw a passageway that I didn't. We all watched as he put on the brakes and slid toward the wall. At the last moment he slid up a curved vine and did a backward vault over his pursuer. It was an unexpected maneuver and the heavyset youth crashed painfully into the wall of vegetation.
The younger of the two turned and asked the older if he'd been hurt. To my eyes it hadn't looked like play, but the kid was definitely concerned for his playmate.
"I'll kill you," the older youth bellowed.
This got the attention of the smaller kid, who turned in a panic and rammed directly into Marny.
"Whoa there, little man," she said, chuckling. "What's this all about?"
Nick, wasn't having any of it and pulled his flechette. He growled, "Take it somewhere else."
"Oh, there's no harm here, Nicholas. Put that away," Marny said.
"I believe his friend there means to do him in. You," Nick said, indicating the larger one. "Go on, get out of here or we'll be calling the police."
"Constable," Tabby corrected.
"Fine, Tabby. Get out of here or we're calling the Constable," he said.
The older youth stalked away, not at all happy with the events.
"Sorry for that. He gets moldy some days, but he'll be clean in a few minutes," the smaller kid said. "Sorry to bother you."
"Stay safe," Marny said.
"What's with all the hostility, Nick?" I asked.
"We've been followed since we landed," Tabby said. "That might not have been as innocent as it looked."
"Hah! That little shite swiped my nano-blade," Marny said.
"Want to chase him down?" I asked.
"Never happen," Tabby said. "He'd know every hidey-hole and back alley in the city. He'll no doubt hole up until we leave."
I shook my head. It wasn't a big loss, but a kid with a nano-blade could be a problem.
Once we were back on the ship, we checked in with Ada. There'd been no activity, so we had a couple of hours to kill.
"I think I'd like to go back to the market and see about trading with that carver," I said.
"Aye, Cap. We'll oversee loading of the material. Nick already sent me all of the pallet signatures."
"Hopefully I'll be back before then," I said.
"I doubt it."
"Why?"
"They've already started stacking behind the ship," she said.
"I can stick around."
"No, we have it," Nick said. "You and Tabby go. Just be careful, though."
It took twenty minutes to find and replicate a suitable carving knife set. It wasn't anything special, but the handles were made of easily graspable material and the blades of strong steel. It wasn't nano-crystalized steel, but it would be more than enough for carving wood and bone. I wrapped the four blades in an oil infused cloth.
"Ready?" I asked Tabby.
"You really are a dope. But, that's what I love about you," she said.
"I know. But, the guy just has one knife and I really did like that Lagarto carving," I said.
As we exited the ship, the rain intensified. I almost turned around, but then thought of Hapet and kept moving. I noticed the residents, who had all been milling about when it was misting, had moved inside. The porters must have dropped off the first load of crates because a big group appeared behind us, crossed the market and went up toward the shop to fetch the next load. It looked like they had four people for each crate.
"That's going to take a while," Tabby said, yelling to overcome the noise of the rain.
"No kidding and in this rain? They're tougher than I am," I said.
Tabby nodded. The stairs down to the market were better covered than the landing strip, but the rain found us just the same. I suspected it was a matter of everything being saturated at all times.
"Blessings to you, trader," Hapet said as we approached.
"Liam and Tabby," I said, recognizing my gaffe at not giving our names on our first visit.
"Thank you. The Lagarto pulls on your spirit, does it not?" he asked.
I smiled. I wasn't ready to jump off that cliff yet.
"I have a proposition for you," I said.
"What is that, Mr. Liam?"
"Would you find this valuable?" I asked, placing the smallest of the four knives I'd replicated on the counter in front of him.
He picked it up and turned it over in his hands. He then picked up the piece he'd been working on and dug into the wood, deftly removing the material.
"A fine blade. You listened to Hapet. Your knife is worth more than the single Lagarto," he said. "It is worth ten of my carvings."
"How many carvings do you have already finished?" I asked.
"Perhaps fifty," he said.
I rolled the cloth out in front of him, exposing the remaining three knives. I was delighted at his excited reaction, picking each up in turn.
"Would you trade your stock for this collection?" I asked.
He looked at me and then back to the knives. He was struggling with something a
nd I wasn't sure what it was.
"Is that not a good deal for you?" I asked.
"Hapet would be taking advantage of Mr. Liam. I would like to do this trade, but I would feel bad about it after," he said.
I extended my hand. "If Hapet would gather his carvings, I would be most pleased to make this trade."
MOTIVE
"You love that, don't you," Tabby said.
"What? Trading two credits worth of materials for two hundred credits of local art?" I asked defensively.
"You did that because you liked him" she said. "Like you need the hassle for two hundred credits."
"Win, win, if you ask me," I said. She was right, of course, but I wasn't about to admit it.
"Don't ever lose that instinct to do what's right. It makes me want you just that much more," she said grabbing a handful of my behind. I wasn't expecting it and I jumped.
The rain hadn't let up by the time we got back to the ship. I found Marny standing beneath Hotspur's port-side wing, overseeing the loading of the pallets.
"Nick is meeting with Torigan in the galley," Marny said when I approached.
"You okay out here?" I asked.
"I never thought I'd find a place as wet as the Amazon, but this place beats everything," she said.
"I'll help, Marny," Tabby said.
I ducked under the ship and climbed up the starboard-side stairs and through the hatch. I could have entered from the cargo bay, but the porters were busy carrying their heavy loads and I didn't want to get in their way.
"All set, Mr. Torigan?" I asked when I entered the galley. I noticed that Nick had offered him a cup of coffee and they were both seated at the table.
"Your business partner has us all squared away. If you come across more of the silver and gold, I'd sure like first crack at it," he said.
"What of iron ore, steel ingot or steel sheet products?" I asked.
"Ore, not as much. Steel ingot and sheet I could find a home for. Any nano-crystalized steel?" he asked.
"Not yet, but you never know," I said.
"Very well. I feel fortunate that we've had a chance to meet under such favorable circumstances," he said. "I look forward to doing business with you in the future."
We shook hands and passed Marny and Tabby coming in through the hatch as we saw him out.
"We're secure, Cap," Marny said.
"If we hurry, we might be able to arrange for a delivery," I said. "I'm dying to see this deal all the way through."
"I don't know about any of you, but I want a warm shower and a dry suit," Tabby said. "Sorry that you have to fly us back and can't join me in the shower." Her tone was mocking as she dragged her finger suggestively across my chest.
I joined Tabby on the lift. At a minimum, I was ready to get cleaned up. The vac-suits had kept us dry, but my hair was sopping wet.
"How'd it go?" Ada asked. She was stretched out sideways on the starboard pilot's chair.
"Hard to know who to trust, but the Ambassador was very interested in our encounters with Petar and the Emre brothers. He definitely doesn't want Belirand to blame Oberrhein for any of this mess. I think he's sharing that with his boss now," I said.
"Luc said the politics of the Oberrhein Kingdom were complex and we needed to tread lightly," Ada said.
"I'm not sure how lightly we can tread with Petar. But, we'll try to play it straight with Oberrhein and see if we can have one less enemy shooting at us," I said.
"What was in the load?" Ada asked.
"All bio-materials. I think I have it all sold on Lèger. How are you holding up?" I asked. "It worked out well having you hold down the fort."
"I'm tired, but at least I'm not dripping all over everything," she said.
All hands prepare for departure.
Ada swiveled in her chair and together we checked off our list. Regular maintenance was really paying off as Hotspur was ready to go, with a full charge of energy in her batteries and a nearly full load of fuel.
Nick and Marny checked in and I slowly lifted us from the landing strip. For a moment, one of our claw feet resisted and we started to list to the side, but once I applied more pressure, we tore free from whatever was holding us. I filed the information away for the future. We might have trouble sinking into the natural materials of the Nannandry flight deck if we stayed too long.
The clouds were heavy and the rain constant, but as soon as I cleared Nannandry, I pushed up into the atmosphere. I'd had enough of the rainy planet for the day and looked forward to the relatively clean, dry environment of Lèger.
The light from the Tipperary star was nearly blinding as we finally broke through the clouds only a hundred kilometers away from Lèger. I turned back to our home base.
Open comm, Yolande Ardouin.
"Captain Hoffen, I've been hoping you'd call today. It's getting late, but perhaps we could inspect your goods this evening," she said.
It was 2100 and I appreciated her willingness to take care of things today.
"Greetings Ms. Ardouin. We're ten minutes out. Where would you like to meet?" I asked.
"I'm currently on Level-12. Would you be able to meet at the landing parapet?"
"We'll be there," I said and closed the comm.
"You need to clean up," Ada said. "I'll bring us in. At least wash your hair."
She was right. I could feel grit on my face from where the water had dried. I wasn't sure how I'd gotten dirty, but suspected it had something to do with the water washing through the canopy of Nannandry, picking up detritus along the way.
"The helm is yours," I said.
As I passed by, I said to Marny, "I'll meet Yolande on the parapet and bring her back to the hold."
"Aye, Cap. I'll get Hotspur opened up. We've a bit of a smell going in there," she said. "But then, so do you."
"Geez. You too?" I asked.
"Low hanging fruit, Cap."
I shook my head and started releasing my vac-suit. I couldn't smell anything, but dropped the suit into the cleaner once I got back to my quarters all the same. A few minutes later, I hopped out of the shower and wiped down my prosthetic foot. The stub on the end of my leg was red and angry looking. I was clearly not a big fan of heavy gravity. I applied a thin med-patch and pulled my foot back on.
Instead of a vac-suit, I chose the new clothing I'd purchased on Nuage Gros. The loose, shimmering cloth pants, tighter shirt and belted tunic had become familiar to me. I liked how the outfit felt and looked on me. One of the things I really appreciated was that I was able to strap my heavy flechette beneath the tunic, easily accessible and also out of sight.
My timing was good. Hotspur made positive contact with the landing parapet as I walked onto the bridge.
"Cap, your welcoming party just arrived and are walking out from the city. The pad is otherwise clear and I'm lowering the ramp so we can get some fresh air in there," Marny said.
"Copy that, Marny. Nick, you want to join me?" I asked.
"Yup," he said.
"I'm coming too," Tabby said.
The three of us squeezed onto the lift that was designed for transporting two and dropped down to the Berth Deck where we found Ada coming out of her bunk room, dressed in civvies.
"Where's the party?" she asked.
"Meeting a trader. You're welcome to join us," I said.
"Maybe I'll help Marny."
I nodded and walked through the pressure barrier into the short hallway that joined the armory, Berth Deck and cargo hold to the starboard exterior hatch. Marny had already extended the stairs. The clean smell of the thin, Grünholz atmosphere was a welcome change from the soupy environment of Nannandry. The smell was similar, but nowhere near as intense.
Three Nuagians had stopped half-way between our ship and the grand, arched entrance to the city. We approached and I recognized the woman in the middle from a vid-chat we'd had when I was on Nuage Gros. One thing I found interesting was how little information a video feed actually provided. Sure, I was able to recognize her
face, but I'd expected someone tall, like Tabby. The woman was actually small, although well proportioned.
"Captain Hoffen, it is good to meet you in person," she said as I approached and we exchanged introductions.
"I'm curious, Ms. Ardouin, what do you do with all of this bio material?" I asked as I led her around the port side of the ship toward the cargo bay.
Movement on the starboard side caught my eye and I saw a small figure running at high speed away from Hotspur carrying a bundle. Marny ran out the back of the bay and gave chase for a moment. She was twenty meters behind and barked something I couldn't quite make out.
"What was that all about?" I asked when Marny came back to the ramp.
"I think we had a stowaway," she said.
"How did the AI miss that?" I asked.
"Not sure. With all the biological material, whoever it was might have been well hidden," she said.
"We can look into it once we're done here," I said.
"Count on it, Cap."
"Ms. Ardouin, may I introduce Marny Bertrand, our chief of security?" I asked.
"Please, Captain, call me Yolande. It is nice to meet you, Mademoiselle Bertrand," she said. "You emptied dear Haik's stores, Captain. You must be a very fine trader indeed to get that rapscallion to part with such a load."
"Does it meet with your approval?" I asked.
"Frieda?" she asked, looking to one of her companions.
"Yes, Madame. Preliminary scans show a high quality. I believe there is more stranded red-bamboo than we need, however."
"Thank you," she said and turned back to me. "There is a public loading bay on Level-14. Will you be staying the evening so that we could unload in the morning?"
"We'll be here for a couple of days at least," I said. "We will be docked on Level-23. Is that inconvenient?"
"Many pardons, Captain. Are you a local trader?" She paused and a look of recognition flitted across her face. "I am so sorry. You must be the crew from Sol who just moved here. I'm not sure why I was so slow to put this together," she said.
"No offense taken, Ms. Ardouin. We have not been in the city for very long," I said.
"Your graciousness is refreshing. Level-23 is most convenient. Would 0800 be too early?" she asked.
Buccaneers (Privateer Tales Book 8) Page 27
