Chapter 9
The next morning Ron and Gus headed for the middle cargo bay to see about melting silver and making small bars out of it. They opened the door and looked at the pile of silver under the netting.
"How in the world are we going to smelt that? Will it stink up the rest of the ship?" Gus asked. "Once we get it melted, how do we make bars?"
"We can use the miners to melt it, just like we did to mine it. We just need something to hold it while we melt it. Too bad we don't have some gnomes to melt it down and pour it into molds for us." Ron answered.
"We do have someone that could hold it and pour. We have those robots we took from the Bugs." Gus declared excitedly.
"Yeah and we could set up a shield for them to work in. That would capture any smells or toxic gases that might be given off. You haven't refueled the robots yet, have you?" Ron joined in the excitement.
Gus shook his head no and Ron continued, "Why don't you go refuel them and I'll go look in the machine shop to see if there is something we can use for molds and something to melt the silver in."
Ron was headed for the machine shop when a thought struck him. Why not ask Auntie's computer if there were any melting pots or molds on board. Ron headed for a terminal and posed his questions. Auntie answered him with a door number where molds and melting equipment were stored. Ron headed to the room and opened it up. He stepped inside and saw rows of shelves with items neatly and securely stored. There were labels showing what shelf and row the items were on. Ron found a smelting pot that was almost three feet in diameter. It looked like pictures he had seen of a witch's cauldron. There was a heat source on it but he saw that it had no fuel for the heat. There was a shelf area on the bottom near the front of the pot to slide molds into and a lever to open a valve to allow liquid metal to fill the mold. This could be a lot handier than what they had planned. He looked on the shelves above the pot and saw stacks of several different sizes of ingot molds. He also saw some other molds that he reached up to check out. There were five different ones that were small figures of alien animals. There were five more of exotic alien birds. None of the figures would be more than four inches high when they were done but they sure were interesting. All of the figures came complete with a mount to stick into a base that would hold the figures. Ron remembered Kota talking about having 'eye candy' to help grease the wheels of trade on a lot of planets. Ron figured these were some of the 'eye candy'. If the ship had all of this equipment, they must have done the same thing they just did. Maybe they even had a supply of gold or silver already on board. Ron found some more molds that would make a hollow core statue. It looked like there would be two halves and they would have to be soldered or welded together. He didn't want to take the time to do anything like that now, so he left them where they were. Ron found fifteen tiny molds of exotic birds and animals that looked like they would make bracelet charms or trinkets. They were incredibly detailed for such small molds. He added 15 of the molds to the pile. He saw that he wasn't going to be able to carry all of this himself so he looked for something to put it in. He spotted a smaller version of the Bug's grav-sled. He went over to it and saw that it was dead. No power. There was a lot of helpful equipment in this ship but it was going to be a pain in the butt until they had more of it fueled up. Ron grabbed the grav-sled and pulled it out the door. He slowly moved it to the fueling station and hooked it up. He charged it up and then turned it on. It moved much easier now. He returned to the storeroom and pushed the grav-sled next to the smelting pot. He had to work at it but he finally got it loaded on the grav-sled. He piled a bunch of the molds in the pot and headed to the fueling station again. He was about finished with the fueling when Gus sent a thought asking if he had gotten lost or just fell asleep. Ron sent back the thought that he had to work a lot harder getting his items than Gus did. He finished fueling and moved his items up to the middle cargo bay.
Gus eyed him as he came up to the silver. Ron explained, "There's lots of equipment to make life easier but everything is empty. Anything you want to use has to be taken to the fueling center to be charged up. I did find some things here that will make this job a lot easier."
Gus picked up one of the molds for the figures and examined it before he asked, "What are these for? What can we do with such tiny figures?"
"Were you there when Kota was talking about 'eye candy'? That’s what these are for. Some planets need a little gift to help the bureaucrats find the proper paper work or the right phone number. There won't be much silver in there but it's enough to impress some of the mid-level bureaucrats. We need to make 3 or 4 of each one to have on hand. I think we should do about a third of the silver that's left in these bigger bars. If the silver is like the lead I use to melt for bullets, there will be impurities on the top. Skim it off with this dipper and pour it into one of the larger molds. We can trade it as full of impurities and let it go for less than the others," Ron related. "Well, let's get started. Set up the shield over there and then have the robots start carrying silver there. I'll grab that bench over there so we have something to work on."
Gus started the robots and Ron picked up the work bench. They moved everything to the middle of the cargo bay and Gus activated the shield. Ron fired up the smelter and put some pieces of silver in it. It started smoking and stinking from the dust build-up of being unused. Shortly the smell lessened and the silver started to melt. Ron added some more and then grabbed a mold. Gus had never done anything like this, so he watched closely. Ron moved the lever and let silver pour into the mold. He held it for a few seconds and then dumped it back into the smelter. He moved the mold back under the spigot and moved the lever. He filled the mold and moved over to the bench. He waited a couple of minutes and then popped the mold open. The figure plopped down on the bench and Ron returned to the smelter. He filled the mold again and repeated the process at the work bench. He did that three more times before he set the mold aside. He indicated Gus should try his hand at it. Gus followed his steps and soon had a different figure lying on the work bench. Ron went to the bench and used a tool to move the figures around to check them out. He was looking for flaws. One of his figures had a void so he carried it back to the smelter. Gus did his five figures and Ron showed him how to check for flaws. Three of his figures had flaws so he dumped them back into the smelter and started over. Ron redid his and grabbed another mold. He and Gus alternated filling molds and dumping them as they kept adding raw silver to keep the optimum level. They would do five and then inspect them. Soon they had all the figures they needed.
"Gus, I think we can program the robots to fill these ingot molds. I don't know if I trust them to keep the pot filled to the right level though. Maybe after we watch them for awhile, I'll trust them a little more. If we have one robot making ingots, we should have the other one taking the finished ingot to the storeroom. Why don't you start that robot making ingots and I'll take the other one to program it for storing the silver," Ron said.
Ron went to another storeroom because he didn't want to move all of the raw silver before he could start stacking the ingots. He found a room with shelving and plenty of floor space underneath. He programmed the robot to bring the ingots and stack them on the floor. He designated how high and how large the stack should be. He told the robot to start and it began to move silver ingots.
Ron walked over and asked, "Do you need any more help, Gus? I want to go check out a couple more molds and then I want to check out the armory for weapons for us."
"Go ahead. There's nothing to this. I might even leave the robots and come to the armory a little later."
Ron went to the storeroom where he had found the molds. He looked through several more but didn't see any that he wanted to use right now. He went to the armory and started investigating weapons a lot more closely than they had the first time.
Tik remembered she hadn't started the remote sensor. She went t
o the computer and started programming what she wanted the sensor to do. The computer asked where she wanted to store the images. Tik was a little surprised because she had never thought about where to store images. She asked the computer if it had an image storage section and the computer said it did. Tik told the computer to store the images there and to start the remote sensor on its programmed job. Out of curiosity, she asked the computer to show her some of the images. The computer put a list on the monitor and Tik began to pick titles at random. There were pictures of galaxies and planets. Tik checked out these pictures for quite awhile before she moved on to another category. The next category had pictures of inhabitants, flora and fauna of different planets. Tik was fascinated and spent over an hour looking at these images. She found out that some of them were movies and she watched them. The inhabitants spoke in some of these and Tik discovered that she understood their speech.
Tik had been looking at the images for several hours when she came to a category entitled 'Training Films'. She selected that category and then the film on Sipida sword fighting. The movie started by showing the swords and proper care for them. The instructor was an alien-looking creature. It announced that the next segment would demonstrate proper techniques for these swords. When the segment started, Tik's jaw dropped. There was a Mis'stear fighting the Sipidan. Tik was so surprised she inadvertently sent a thought message to Ron and Gus. She was caught so off-guard that the message she sent was that she was sword fighting a Sipidan. She was spellbound as she watched the demonstration of the larger Sipidan fighting the Mis'stear. She was so engrossed in the training film she didn't realize anything was wrong until she heard the footsteps thundering down the passageway. Suddenly the door burst open and Ron ran in, sword in hand, followed shortly by Gus who had his ax/hammer drawn.
Tik jumped from her chair, ready to do battle. Ron and Gus stopped and looked around the room. Tik couldn't understand what their problem was and she had to look around the room to see if something had sneaked in while she was watching the video.
Ron, who was still a little out of breath, finally said, "Where is the Sipidan you were fighting? Are you all right?"
"What are you talking about? I've been in here watching this training video!" Tik declared huffily.
"Then what was that message you broadcast about sword fighting? I could see you fighting some creature just as plain as day," Ron remarked acidly.
"I saw it too," Gus attested.
"I don't know what's up with you two; but now that you're here, look at this. I found a bunch of training videos and there's a Mis'stear in it. I don't remember hearing any tales of Mis'stears being involved with the Alcantarans. It surprised me so much I must have broadcast thoughts without even knowing it. These voorwarp units must be a lot more sensitive than the translators," Tik said.
Ron turned to set the sword down on the comm console so Gus was the first to see the video. Ron turned quickly when he heard his sharp intake of breath. Gus was pointing at the video.
"That's not a Mis'stear! That's a Sandghost! Look -- it even looks a lot like me."
Ron rushed over to see what they were talking about. He expected to see Mis'stears and Sandghosts sword fighting. Instead he saw himself fighting a strange-looking creature that was a good six inches shorter than himself. Now that he was watching, he could even smell a strange scent. It wasn't terrible but it was definitely different.
"I don't know what you two see but I see myself fighting an alien creature. Can either of you smell something funny?" Ron asked.
The noise started as both of the other two tried to talk at the same time. Ron had to grin as he held up his hand. It seemed that each of them saw themselves in the video. The only constant was the Sipidan and the same swords. Ron asked Tik to try another one. She picked another one at random and started it. A large lizard-looking creature with a huge frill around its head was standing on two legs. It held a very long rapier in one hand and a dagger in the other. Each of the trio saw themselves fighting the creature. Gus and Ron were taller than the creature and as they called off moves, seemed to use almost the same moves. Tik was shorter and her moves were completely different. Ron asked her to switch to 3-D and play it in slow motion. At each move, they described what they were doing. Ron and Gus were slightly different with each move. Tik was radically different than both of them. Ron and Gus were watching and Ron almost got nicked in the video. Gus did get nicked and hollered as he grabbed his arm. There was no mark on his arm but he said it felt like he had been cut by the rapier.
Ron walked over and grabbed the sword. He went to the 3-D image and took the place of his image. He told Tik to leave it on slow motion and he tried to counter the sword swings and thrusts of the alien. When his sword met the others, he felt the clash of steel in his arm. When he missed one of the thrusts, the alien roared at him to keep his guard up. After a few minutes, Ron told Tik to halt the video.
"What did you two see?" Ron asked.
"When you were out there, we saw you fighting the alien. We heard him chew you out for missing that thrust too." Tik and Gus answered almost in unison.
"This is incredible. I could smell that creature's breath when we got close. It had a fishy smell. I could feel the sword when it clanged against the rapier."
Gus and Tik had to try it for themselves. They both reported the same sensation and being able to smell the alien. Tik got whacked by the rapier and she reported it stung like crazy. They stopped the video and looked at the list of others available. Tik found another section of movies. They looked at some of the titles and tried some of them. They had the same reaction as with the training videos. They all thought the hero or heroine looked like themselves and they could smell flowers or other scents in the scenes. Alien creatures stayed alien but some of the supporting actors were the same race as the watcher. They finally had to stop because they had other things to do. They all knew that this section of the computer would be worth a ton of money to researchers looking into the Alcantarans. They also knew that if they were to be Traders, they needed to learn some of the sword and knife-fighting techniques. Tik went back to checking out the weapons system. Gus went back to check on the robots working with the silver and Ron went back to the armory.
Ron walked into the armory and hung the sword back on the wall where he had grabbed it earlier. He was concentrating on some of the pistol-shaped weapons and was thinking 'I wish Auntie would tell me a little about these weapons'.
Suddenly a thought popped in his head, "Which ones would you like to know about?"
Ron whirled around to see if Tik or Gus were standing in the doorway. Then he realized that the thought was not from either of them. There was a different feel and he wasn't sure who this was in his head. He decided to see if it really was Auntie.
"Auntie, is that you?"
"Yes, which weapons would you like to know more about?"
"How can I hear you in my head?"
"Your voorwarp unit allows you to communicate with me directly."
"Wow, how far away can I hear you? Can you hear the same distance?"
"We can both hear the same distance. Usually it's about 5 or 6 miles, although I do recall one time that atmospheric conditions were just right and I could hear 10 miles."
"Who were you talking to then?"
"That is beyond your clearance. You need to insert the key to gain that knowledge."
"Where is the key?"
"23456G, 456665S, 33455.66M"
"What?"
"23456G, 456665S, 33455.66M"
"OK, skip it. Tell me about this weapon here." Ron said as he picked up the weapon.
He was examining it closely and Auntie was explaining how to operate it and some of its limitations when Gus came into the room. Ron was concentrating so hard on what Auntie was saying that he didn't hear Gus come in. When Gus stepped up beside him, he saw him out of the corner of his eye. He jumped and Gus
chuckled.
"I think everybody is getting jumpy around here with all of the new things we are learning," Gus chuckled again.
"Oh yeah, Mr. Smarty. Hold this and think very carefully that you'd like Auntie to explain about it," Ron blurted.
Gus looked at the weapon and did as Ron had said. He jumped when Auntie started explaining about the weapon. Gus knew that he wasn't hearing the voice in the normal sense but was receiving the lesson through ESP.
"Now I see why you were concentrating so hard. When did you find out about this?" Gus said.
"I was just looking at the weapons on this wall when I thought it would be nice if Auntie would explain about them. Suddenly there she was in my head. She said it's from the voorwarp units. She also said that they have a range of 5 or 6 miles; sometimes, when things are just right, she can hear 10 miles. I asked who she had heard before and she said I needed the key for the next level. I asked where the key was and she gave me a string of numbers," Ron reported.
"These units keep surprising us, don't they? How long will it take before we discover all they'll do?" Gus asked.
"I don't know but they are incredible," Ron said.
They turned back to the weapons and discussed which would be better for each of them. Ron asked Auntie and she picked out a different weapon for each of the three of them. Ron picked them up and asked Auntie for directions on how to load them. She explained the procedure for each weapon to him and then Ron handed the larger weapon to Gus. They both walked to the fueling station and loaded all three weapons. Auntie directed them on how to set them for practice. She said that there was a target in the armory that needed fueling and then they could fire the weapons. Gus hurried to the armory to get the target. It was only about 10 inches in diameter and he wondered how they would hold it up. Auntie told him to fuel it. Gus did and the target took off and flew to the other end of the cargo bay. Suddenly the target grew until it was 3 feet across. Ron fired his weapon first and hit the right edge of the target. Auntie told him to hold it just a little to the left. He did as he fired again and hit more toward the middle but still too low. Gus stepped up to try then. His first shot went high and to the left. The next shots walked down closer to the bulls-eye. Ron tried the weapon intended for Tik. It felt small in his hands but he could still hit the target. He switched back to his weapon and they took turns shooting at the target. After they were comfortable with the weapons, the target began to shrink. After a few more shots, the target started moving. It moved pretty slowly for awhile but gradually increased the speed of its movement. The two grew tired of the practice and decided to check out a few more weapons.
Ron asked Auntie for suggestions for easily-concealed weapons. Auntie led them to two different weapons this time. She pointed out one type for Tik and a different one for the other two. They charged the weapons and tried them on the target. They didn't practice as long this time but were satisfied with their performance. When they checked the time, they were surprised to learn that is was suppertime and the day was almost gone. They told Auntie to put the target away. They went to the armory and found holsters for all the weapons and hooked them to their belts. Ron hid the smaller concealed weapons in his boot and Gus put his behind the crossing straps on his back. They headed to the comm room to find Tik to pry her away from the computer and then to head to the galley.
They gave Tik her weapons and told her they would let her practice tomorrow. They were so excited about the weapons that both Ron and Gus forgot to tell Tik about ESP communication with Auntie. They fixed something to eat and were talking about the weapons during the meal. Tik asked about one of the controls on her weapon and Ron didn't remember. Without thinking he 'told' Auntie by ESP to show a picture of Tik's weapon and explain it to her.
As soon as the 3-D image appeared, bedlam broke out. Tik leaped onto the table knocking the supper dishes onto the floor. She let out a scream of surprise before she whirled to face Ron. She saw the look of surprise on his face and whirled toward Gus. Gus was even more surprised because he had no idea that any of this was coming.
"All right, who did that? What's going on around here?" Tik demanded.
Ron and Gus looked bewildered and then they looked at each other. They broke out into a gale of laughter. They were laughing so hard, they couldn't even talk.
Tik was definitely peeved and said, "That was not funny, you two! You almost scared me to death and look what happened to our supper."
"Tik, I apologize. We're not laughing at you, just your reaction. We forgot to tell you about another amazing discovery we made this afternoon. The 3-D picture and the voice you heard in your head are all courtesy of Auntie. Apparently the voorwarp units allow us to communicate directly with Auntie. I didn't even think about not telling you when I asked Auntie to show you your weapon and explain a little about it. I'm sorry that I forgot to tell you," Ron said as he started to chuckle again. "I saw a cat touch an electric fence back on earth and that thing had the reactions of an old, old man compared to you."
Ron and Gus started to laugh again and Tik was starting to get upset until she realized where she was. She was sitting in the middle of the table in the middle of the mess that used to be their supper. Ron and Gus had food sitting in their lap and Tik thought of the surprised look on both of their faces when she had first moved. The more she thought of it, the funnier it got. Pretty soon she was laughing just as hard as the other two. They all joined in and cleaned the mess up. They fixed a little something more and finished their supper while they talked of their discoveries.
Ron thought of something and asked, "Gus, did you hear anything when I talked to Auntie?"
"No, I didn't hear anything and I had no idea what bit Tik to make her jump like that," Gus answered with a big grin as he thought about the earlier scene.
"I didn't hear anything either when you were talking to Auntie. Did either of you hear Auntie start explaining the weapon to me?" Tik asked.
They both shook their heads no. Ron said, "Let me try to direct something to Gus and Tik, you see if you can hear it." Ron directed a thought to Gus and Tik heard nothing. Ron then directed a thought to Tik and Gus heard nothing; but when directed to both, they both heard. They were learning a little more about the voorwarp units all the time. Gus went to check on the robots and shut them and the smelter down for the night.
The next morning they decided they all should spend some time studying the planet they were approaching. Gus started the robots on the silver before he came down to the lower level. They spent about an hour going over the planet's information and then Ron wanted to practice his flying. He had Auntie program the screens and controls in the lower cockpit for simulation. Gus and Tik decided to practice with the weapon system at the same time. They practiced for about a half hour and then everybody switched places. With only three people, everyone had to be able to do all the jobs. After another 45 minutes of practice, during which they switched one more time, they were ready for something else. They moved to the armory where they grabbed the target. Gus thought they should get two more so they could all practice at the same time. They had to help Tik at first. They had to show her how to properly hold the weapon and how to squeeze the trigger. Once she started practicing, she rapidly improved. All three of them seemed to have a natural talent with the weapons. After they had practiced for quite awhile, Ron thought they should start learning more about knife and sword fighting. He had Auntie set them up on a regular training schedule for that. They all agreed that what they had just done would be a good routine to get into while they traveled. Auntie set it up as a daily schedule for the rest of the flight to Europaische. The flight and weapons systems training became like a fast-paced video game and became less tiring as the days went by. The weapons training soon became a competition to see who could hit the most targets. They practiced with and without their shields up and with the targets popping up erratically and unexpecte
dly. They were getting pretty proficient with everything except the edged weapons by the time they arrived in Europaische's solar system. They were still learning the basics of the edged weapons and it would take longer to become proficient with them. They felt more comfortable with their knowledge of the planet too. The Bugs had kept detailed records of trades and about the inhabitants. They didn't know how current the information was but at least it was a place to start.
The silver was all done before they dropped out of hyper-space. Ron had found ten more molds of small figures that could have been bracelet charms. They made a bunch of those up for 'eye candy'. All the smelting gear had been put back into storage and the robots were secured. Ron and Gus had loaded more weapons in the armory while Tik had researched more about Auntie. They were all nervous about the upcoming meeting but were excited too.
Auntie dropped out of hyper-space outside of the solar system. Ron wanted a chance to actually fly before he tried to set down on an inhabited planet. Auntie found a small barren planet on the outer rim of the solar system where they all practiced landing and 'touch-and-goes'. Once they all felt confident of their abilities, they started in towards the planet. Tik thought they should drop a remote detector along their route; so about half way to the planet, they dropped the detector. They also sent out Kota's message again but they received no response.
They continued cruising toward the planet until they received a radio transmission asking who they were and what their intentions were. Ron answered them and told them they were the Galactic Antiquarian here to trade. The radio transmission directed them to the space port and where to park. Ron did the piloting and was super nervous landing on an inhabited planet for the first time. It was all worry for nothing because he set Auntie down like a feather, right on the designated spot. The radio directed them to the manager's office to fill out the necessary paper work and to get their trading permit. Auntie had been scanning the planet and said they could breathe the air with no problem. She said there were bacteria and viruses that could be harmful but none were close at hand. They would be able to move around the planet without space suits.
They had selected concealed weapons for this first meeting and had them hidden on their bodies. They had selected several of the smallest silver figures and a couple of the larger ones. Gus was carrying three ingots of silver in his personal pouch and Ron had one in his pocket. They had divided the silver figures between them so everyone was carrying a couple. They went to the rear exit on the bottom level and out of habit, cycled through the airlock.
As they stood in the airlock, they talked of how they felt. They were feeling nervous, excited, curious and ready to try this adventure.
Gus said, "It's been three years since I set foot on a planet. I wonder what the weather will feel like again."
Tik said, "Yeah, it's been 2-1/2 years for me. I wonder if they have flowers in bloom."
"I guess I'm the lucky one. It's only been two years for me but somehow I don't feel that lucky waiting that long," Ron sighed.
The airlock took in outside air and they started smelling a planet again. The cycle finished and the door swung open. A different sunshine than they were used to poured in the open door. This light had a bluish tint because the sun was a blue dwarf. There was a slight smell of nutmeg in the air and other fragrances, they couldn't identify. This level had stairs that they could walk down to the ground. When they were on the ground, they looked all around at their first alien planet. They had been watching the monitors as they landed and they knew there was a range of mountains to the north. A broad river meandered around the city they had landed near. The river continued across rolling plains that showed definite signs of agriculture. The space port sat in the middle of a temperate zone about the same as Kansas City in the United States. The alien city was in the middle of the land mass on this side of the planet. During their approach to the planet, they had seen oceans and another large land mass across the ocean to the east. The space port appeared to be 10 to 15 miles from the edge of the city. There were houses and businesses scattered along the road between the city and the space port. It had looked like there were boats on the river and there had been roads scattered across the landscape.
The trio looked around now and saw the mountains in the distance. There was some kind of large, tree-like blue fauna spaced on the edge of the space port. Under these trees were densely spaced blue bushes that appeared to be about 10 feet tall. If anything went through that hedge, it would have to be smaller than Tik by far. Whatever it was, it made an effective fence around the space port. As they walked toward the space port office, they felt the gentle breeze blowing in their faces. The space port itself was flat and looked like it was 300 or 400 acres. The area closest to the building had a hard smooth surface like concrete but a little different. Two or three hundred yards away from the buildings, the ground had a blue cover that resembled grass. It gave a strange but not unpleasant look. As they got closer to the building, they could see the hedge coming up to the edge of the building. There were small yellow and blue blooms scattered across the face of the hedge. There was a strong, sweet fragrance coming on the breeze from those blooms. Now that they were closer, they could see the large, sharp, brown thorns that were all over the branches on the hedge.
Ron thought of the air in Auntie and how stale it would seem now. He asked Auntie if she could cycle some of this air inside and refresh their air. She said she would get right on it and things would be freshened up by the time they returned.
The building was a one story building that spread out for three or four hundred feet. From where they stood, they couldn't tell how deep it was. The outside was a tan color with vivid blue, green and orange swirls and designs over the face. There was a large door in the middle of the building, so the trio headed there. There was a sign over the door written in a strange language. The trio was amazed that they could read it. It said:
Wuensche National Space Port
We welcome all pleasant visitors.
We are here to serve you and to promote trade between the planets.
The trio stepped through the doors and looked around. Gus noticed that the doors were tall enough for him. He guessed they would even be tall enough for Kota to walk through without ducking. They were in a room that was at least a 100 feet by 100 feet. Passageways went off the center of the room in each direction. There was an exit door across the room and they could see more shrubs and trees outside. They had to walk through some sort of scanner as they entered the building. Once they were through the scanner, they faced a long counter that blocked the exit. The counter was reddish brown with the grain of the wood showing as a dark blue. There were three sections to the counter with openings between each section. Each opening had steps that led to the level behind the counter. The opening was blocked by an arm that was swung out of the way by a mechanical device. The counter was about four feet high and the section to the right had two steps in front of it. The middle section had one step. Ron led the way to the left section which had no steps. He figured they must have different sizes of space farers, so they were trying to accommodate them all.
As Ron stepped up to the counter, a creature came out of a room off to the left and walked over to the counter. The creature walked on short stout legs. Its body reminded Ron of a cartoon snowman. It looked like three balls stacked on top of one another with each ball getting smaller as it went up. It had two arms with six fingers and a thumb on each hand. The creature was wearing a miniature top hat that was set at a rakish angle. The hat was much too small for its head and Ron didn't see how it stayed on. The hat sat on top of short dark blue hair. The creature had big, round, yellow eyes and a sharp pointy nose. It had thick orange lips that were stretched into a big smile right now. Its skin was pale blue and the black suit it wore almost looked painted on. There were three bright green buttons on the suit jacket that caught the light
and sparkled as the creature walked up to the counter.
"Hello. My name is Fu-Ni-Quc and I'm the space port manager. How may I help you, gentle creatures? Can you understand me or do I need to find a translator?"
"Hi, I'm Ron Calvin. This is Tik Michi and this is Gusissi Ugde Ghaolh. We understand fine. Our translators seem to understand your language just fine. We had a radio transmission that said we needed to check in with the manager, so here we are. We'd like to see if we could do some trading here."
"Oh my, we welcome trade. Do you have any idea what you want to trade for? How long will you be staying with us?" Fu-Ni-Quc said in a musical pleasant voice.
"Well, we have no idea how long it will take to conduct a trade, so we don't know how long we will stay. We know we want to trade for some food supplies for ourselves; but beyond that, we would like to see some of what you have available." Ron answered.
"Right now, we can't help you if you need fuel; unfortunately, we are at war with a neighboring country and we are not allowed to sell any fuel." Fu said as he started filling out some forms.
"We're fine on fuel. What type of fuel do you normally offer?" Ron asked.
"We usually have three grades of fusionable material but everything is going to the war effort right now."
"Gee, that's too bad. I hate to hear of any country at war. It's always so hard on the citizens and soldiers."
"I know. There are some shortages but, luckily, food isn't one of them. Where did you say you gentle creatures were from?"
Ron broadcast a thought to Tik and Gus, "What should I tell him?"
Tik mentally answered, "Just say your home planet. You'll know more details about that and won't have to make things up."
Ron answered, "We're from Earth over in the Milky Way galaxy."
Fu filled in some more of the form and said, "We have a landing fee of 1000 rudia or 10 Charter Alliance credits plus a parking fee of 100 rudia or 1 credit per day. How would you like to handle that?"
"We're not members of the Alliance yet, so right now, all we've got is some silver to trade. Is there somewhere we could trade some silver for the local currency?" Ron said as he pulled a silver ingot out of his pocket.
Fu pulled a communication device out of his pocket as he said, "We have a representative from the banking industry on site. He can do an exchange for you. Excuse me a moment while I contact him."
Fu talked on the comm device for a few minutes and shortly another creature appeared. This one was a thinner copy of Fu without the hat and seemed to be a little older. The creature walked up to the counter and said, "Hello, my name is Glueck and I understand from Fu here that you have some silver to exchange."
"Yes, we have a few more like this. We'd like to see how they exchange for your rudia," Ron said as he showed the ingot to the creature.
Ron could sense the excitement in the creature. Evidently silver was highly sought after here. He forced himself to keep a poker face so he didn't reveal that he could read their emotions.
Glueck said, "I'm afraid your companions will have to wait here but I'd like you to accompany me to my work area. I need to test this ingot, and no offence intended, but I have rules to follow."
"No offence taken. If I had a stranger show up with silver ingots, I'd want to make sure it was silver all the way through," Ron answered.
Glueck led the way down the hall to a room on the right. When they entered the room, Ron saw a bench with scales and other equipment on its surface. Glueck went directly to the bench. He weighed the ingot. Then he took a drill and drilled three very small holes in the ingot. He took the filings that came out and put them under a small machine that sat on the bench. He turned a dial and pushed a button. In just a few moments there was a reading on the machine's screen. It read .999. Glueck got even more excited at the reading but Ron could tell he was trying to hide the excitement.
Glueck turned and said, "This is very pure. My scale shows it weighs 100 ounces. We would be interested in exchanging this for rudia. How much of it would you be exchanging?"
"I don't know for sure. I know that we'll have to do at least one just to pay the landing fee but I need to find out what the exchange rate is. Also I need to find out how much your goods would cost. If a good breakfast meal costs 100,000 rudia and this silver is only worth 100 rudia, then we won't be exchanging much," Ron hedged until he knew the rate. "Also, I would need to know if there is a fee to exchange the silver."
"Well, I can tell you we will offer you 30,000 rudia for this ingot and there would be no fee for doing it. A good breakfast can be had in the city for 8 or 9 rudia."
"In that case, for right now we need to exchange two of the ingots. My partner Gus has another one here in the building if you have the rudias to exchange for it. Shall we take that ingot and go get the other one?"
Glueck grabbed the ingot like he was afraid he was going to lose it. They went to the counter and Ron asked Gus for another ingot. He had been broadcasting what was happening so Gus was ready. Ron took the ingot and they returned to the testing room. Glueck went through the same procedure and was even more excited when he saw the same reading. He picked up the silver filings and placed them in a small bottle. He grabbed the bottle and both ingots and then he led Ron into another room that had a fancy desk made of the same wood as the counter. The rim of the desk had flowers and some kind of bird carved around the entire rim that Ron could see. Glueck pushed a spot on the desk and a smaller, younger creature came into the room. Glueck told him to get 60,000 rudia out of the safe and bring it in to them. Glueck filled out some forms and asked Ron to sign one of them. Ron saw that it was a simple form stating that he had exchanged 200 ounces of silver for 60,000 rudia. He signed it as Glueck's helper brought the money into the room. Glueck gave the money to Ron and then bowed as he thanked him for doing business with them. Ron thanked him and walked back outside to the counter.
Ron gave Fu 1700 rudia. He told him that he would like to pay for a weeks parking and then see how much longer it would take to make a trade.
"I'll get you a receipt. Do you wish to get a trading permit now?" Fu asked.
"Do we need a permit to look around and see if you have anything we need to trade for? How much is the permit and how long will it take to get it?"
Tik was getting impatient to get out and look around. Ron and Gus both were broadcasting for her to chill out. They had to follow procedure here or they might wind up with trouble and wouldn't get their food supplies. She settled down but still wasn't happy.
"The permit is 100 rudia and it usually takes two to three days. You are welcome to look around our city but would really need the permit to check out trade goods." Fu replied.
"In that case, we'd better have the permit. I have money in my pocket and if I see something I really need, it might burn a hole in my pocket," Ron said with a grin.
Fu returned the grin and started filling out the paper work. He asked what the name of the space ship was and where they were from. When he asked for a company name, Ron told him RTG Traders. Fu finished the paper work and had Ron sign it. Ron gave him 100 rudia and Fu gave him a receipt for both the permit and the landing/parking fee.
Ron casually asked, "Do you ever moonlight as a consultant or do you know a consultant? We need someone to help us with the local customs. I'd sure hate to offer to shake hands as a friend and find out that's an offer to fight here."
"Why, I've never been asked to consult before. I try to answer questions here and point space travelers in the right direction. I don't know…." Fu stammered.
"That's all right. We wouldn't want you to break any rules or regulations. We just need a consultant or guide. We just figured if you had worked here very long, you would know the right and wrong way to get things done," Ron stated soothingly.
"Well, I have worked here for 10 years and I do have 3 or 4 personal days coming that I could use. If I were to consult, how long woul
d you need me and exactly what would you expect me to do?" Fu asked nervously.
"We definitely don't want you to do anything illegal or immoral. If we ask something that fits in those categories here, we would expect… no, demand that you tell us we shouldn't do that. We need someone to show us around and to make sure we aren't insulting the local people. Our company insists that we be model citizens," Ron declared emphatically.
"In that case, I could help you out. I'll be through here in two hours and we could start then. I must warn you though, that I don't frequent those dives east of here that most of the space travelers go to. I wouldn't know anything about them," Fu asserted.
"We're not looking for that type of place. We would rather go to some place you would take your family. Do you have a family?" Ron said.
"Oh yes. I have a wife and two sons. Here is a picture," said Fu as he pulled the pictures up on his comm unit and showed them to the trio.
Ron said brightly, "I have an idea, if it doesn't offend you. Why don't you call them and we could all go to eat supper. It would be our treat."
Fu was almost flabbergasted. He said, "My family has always wanted to meet a space traveler. I have told them about the ones that have come through here and have even sneaked a picture but they have never been close to any of them. Let me call to see if the wife had anything planned."
While Fu called his wife, the trio was trading thoughts.
"That’s laying it on pretty thick, isn't it?" Tik asked Ron.
"No, he'll be able to keep us out of trouble with the locals and I'll bet the paper work will zip right through. Besides, if we ever come back this way again, we'll go to the head of the line, as far as he will be concerned," Ron tossed back.
"I agree with Ron. I'm scared to death that I'll do something taboo and all the local population will be after us. We need to get those food supplies and this is one way to test our trading skills. I know when we dealt with the Jiangau back home; we always tried to be extra polite with them. We never had any trouble and always got a good deal. Some of the other Sandghost groups were pretty rough with them and they had to double-check every deal they made. The Jiangau didn't really cheat them but they drove a very hard bargain," Gus declared.
Fu came back and said his family was ecstatic about meeting them and would gladly accept their invitation. He was to pick them up right after he got off of work. The trio saw that a thought crossed his mind.
"I have a small vehicle. How will we get you to the eating place?"
"Do you have taxies here or other vehicles for hire with drivers?" Gus asked.
"Yes, there are vehicles with drivers who take space travelers around. They are larger vehicles that will haul persons of your proportions," Fu cried excitedly.
"Well, if you can call one for us, we'll meet you at the eating place. We'd like to look around your city anyway and this will be the perfect excuse," Ron said.
Fu called the driver, who told him he would be there in 10 minutes. He gave them a slip of paper with the eating establishment's name and address and then Fu excused himself to go finish the paper work so the trio moved out the front of the building. Ron divided the money and gave each of them a third. After the landing fee, parking fee and permit, they each still had almost 20,000 rudia. They still didn't know if they were rich or how they would fare for prices but Ron had the feeling that they had a lot of money.
The driver arrived in 10 minutes as he said he would. Ron checked on the price and was satisfied with the charge. They loaded in the vehicle and the driver started up. He started to turn east but Tik stopped him. She directed him toward the city. She explained that they wanted to see some of the sights in town and that they were meeting someone. She handed him the slip of paper and asked if he knew where that was. He did and he took off for town. They plied him with questions and he gladly answered and volunteered information about the different buildings on the way into town. He gave a guided tour of the local points of interest. He went into a history of the area, which the trio knew in general but their guide filled in a lot of blanks. Ron asked if he was booked for the rest of the week and the driver said he was open. Ron hired him for the rest of the week to drive them around. The driver dropped them off early at the eating place and Ron told him they would need him later when they were finished eating. The driver gave him a phone number to call but said he was just going to wait in the parking lot. Ron asked if he needed to eat and the driver said he had brought a meal. Right now, they wanted to walk around a little bit before they met with their appointment. The entire trio was impressed with how clean the city was and how friendly the people were. The buildings all seemed to be four stories or less and were painted in pastel colors. There were lots of shrubs, flowers and trees even in the downtown area. The trio all agreed that it felt good to walk on solid ground with the sun shining on their faces. They noticed that some of the people stared at them but were very polite about it. Tik saw that it was getting close to time to meet Fu so they returned to the eating place. As they walked up, Fu and his family were just getting ready to enter the building. Fu introduced all of them and only had to struggle a little with Gus' name. Gus told them to just call him Gus because it was much simpler and he might not recognize his full name anymore. The Fu family laughed and led the way into the building. Gus had to duck to get in the door and then had to watch his head inside. The ceilings were only seven and a half feet tall. Lights and other fixtures were right at head height for him. The eating place had two special chairs for Ron and Gus to sit in. They were larger and much sturdier than the other chairs in the room.
Fu's boys were miniature copies of their dad -- right down to the funny little hat. The only difference was that the boys wore a dark blue suit whereas their dad wore black. When they sat down to order, the trio had to ask what all the menu items were. Fu explained what the different dishes were and Gus asked how big the portions were. Fu told him and Gus decided to order two entrees. Ron sat next to Fu's youngest son and soon started entertaining him with sleight-of-hand tricks. The family had never seen anything like it and was delighted. Ron knew he wasn't very good but it was fun amazing the family. Other patrons sitting around were watching and enjoying the show as much as the Fu family. Fu's boys wanted to hear about their space ship and their home planets. Tik made a deal with them. They would tell two stories and then the family had to tell one. The trio wanted to learn about Europaische and the inhabitants too. Tik told the boys that their space ship was named the Galactic Antiquarian but they just called her Auntie. The trio kept quiet about escaping from the Bugs and all of the special equipment on the lower level. They did tell about finding the asteroid and mining the silver but skipped the part about getting fuel from the blue super-giant. Ron noticed that when they were telling stories about Auntie or their home planets, the conversation at tables near them died out. Those patrons were listening just as intently as the Fu family. The food arrived during one of the stories and the aroma brought the story to a halt. After eating the slop the Bugs had provided and the plain fare on Auntie, the food was heavenly. The trio savored each bite. The Fu family could tell they were enjoying the meal and were delighted that they had been a part of bringing the trio here. As the meal progressed and the trio wasn't so absorbed in eating, the stories started again. Ron had an idea and broadcast it to the other two. He took out a small silver bird and presented it to the youngest son. Gus gave a silver animal to the oldest son and Tik gave another silver bird to Fu's wife. The family protested that they couldn't accept such rich gifts but the trio insisted. They said that anybody who introduced them to food fit for the gods deserved a lot more than these little trinkets. Ron gave a small six legged silver animal to Fu. The trio didn't realize that those little trinkets were worth thousands and thousands of rudia because they were from space travelers. Those four little trinkets were worth two to three times what Fu made annually. The entire trio did n
otice the buzz of interest from the other patrons in the eating establishment. Everyone wanted a closer look at those trinkets. The waitress was at their table a lot, not so much for service but so she could hear the stories and then to see the trinkets.
The trio debated by thought most of the evening about inviting the family into Auntie. They knew they couldn't allow them to see the lower level but would it hurt if they saw the upper level? What about the middle cargo bay? They didn't think anyone should see the conservatory or a lot of the other rooms right now. They decided that they could invite them to see the upper area. Ron asked if the family would like to see the inside of Auntie. He asked Fu if that would be against any rules or regulations and Fu said it was permitted but he had never heard of anyone in his ten years of service getting to do it. The boys were ready to go right then but Ron told them that they needed to clean up their rooms first. He told them that they had wanted to get on the planet so bad, they left everything a mess. They arranged the tour for three days from now. The boys had school for the next two days but would be off on the third. The trio could see out of the corner of their eyes that it wouldn't take much and the entire population of the eating establishment would volunteer to escort the family on the tour of the space ship. The trio was surprised by the interest.
The boys started talking about the friends at school who they were going to tell their story to tomorrow. They asked their parents if they could take the silver trinkets to school to show their friends and teachers. Mrs. Fu said she would have to go to school with them if they did. Gus started asking questions about the school and what subjects they taught. He asked what the classrooms were like and the boys said he should come to see for himself. Gus said he would if Fu could arrange it with the school authorities. The boys instantly started pleading with him to set it up. Fu said he would try to arrange it for the day after tomorrow. Ron had to grin as he saw the reaction from the tables around them. He wondered how many parents and grandparents were going to find a need to visit their family's school on that day. Fu announced that tomorrow was a school day so he needed to get the boys home. There were groans from their side of the table until Tik reminded them that they would be seeing them at school the in two days and at Auntie the day after that. If their dad decided they hadn't behaved enough to visit Auntie, the trio would have to back him up. The groans stopped immediately and the boys politely thanked them for the silver trinkets and all of the stories.
The waitress brought the check and Ron paid it, as well as a generous tip. The waitress acted like she didn't know what a tip was and Fu explained that their culture didn't do that. Ron took the money back but gave her a silver trinket. He said his culture tried to show their appreciation for a job well done. The waitress was on cloud nine with the gift. Ron could see that they were going to have to make a lot more of these. Small things like this didn't cost them a great deal but paid big dividends as gifts. The trio arranged to meet Fu early in the morning to start touring the countryside and figuring out something to trade. They told him that they had hired the driver and vehicle for the rest of the week and he could ride with them. He said he would meet them at the space port.
Everyone got up to leave and Gus forgot about the low ceilings. He bumped into the light fixture and the boys giggled until their father glared at them sternly. The trio tried hard to suppress their grins but it was no use. They chuckled and soon the boys were giggling again. They went outside and the Fu family got into their vehicle and drove off. The trio went to their hired vehicle and told the driver to take them back to the space port.