Family Law 2: The Long Voyage of the Little Fleet (52 page)

A coil of silver wire went in front of the gold coins and another coil of gold wire went in front of the silver coins.

Wong was laughing so hard they had to wait for him to get it under control. "They're saying, 'We're not that dumb buddy boy. Show us how you value these metals against each other before we trade.' I have to admit, I'd have done the same. I bet those weigh the same as the coins they are across from within a fraction of a gram."

"Well we'll reduce the amount of the gold coins in proportion to the last quotes we had when leaving Fargone. I'm not about to give them Earth ratios for silver," Fenton said.

"Earth is a lot further away. That's only fair," Hokkaido declared.

The book didn't garner any offer. The jade carving however got a mystery offering. A clear rectangle about the size of a domino.

The aliens withdrew and left them to consider the offering. Fenton sent a couple men out to swap the pile of gold out for one approximating the value of the silver wire. The silver coins he withdrew. The mystery rectangle was examined on the spot. By its absorption spectrum it seemed to be common silica glass. They checked for trace impurities and its dielectric value. Nothing seemed remarkable. "Perhaps it is unusually strong?" Wong speculated. When they tried to test it by mounting a strain gage it wouldn't stick. The first time the engineer thought he'd been clumsy. It fell off again.

"I might know why they think it has value," Probity said. "Do you have some water out there?"

"Just a bottle of water to drink," the tech said.

"Hold your thumb over the end and dribble a bit. See if you can hold it flat and catch a few drops." The water beaded up in balls as if it were mercury and ran off with the slightest tilt.

"Ha! They're trying to sell us self-cleaning glass," Probity said, amused. "I guess it was a big deal to them but we've had all sorts of variations on it for a
long
time."

"Oh well. I guess all tech doesn't advance at the same pace," Wong said. "And that tells me there may be something we think is old hat
they'd
be tickled to have, even if they are ahead of us other ways."

"Leave the glass," Captain Fenton ordered. "Put it back but off the edge of the blanket, and open the book up before you come back in. We'll give them some time and see what they bring out. Any ideas for new items for us to put out would be welcome. It doesn't look like they are book worms though."

Someone groaned, but it was with a closed mic and just make the Captain smile.

"I hope we don't fall into calling them Worms," Wong pleaded. "It wouldn't matter to me but I think it would be bad PR with the general public."

"Bugs is even worse," Fenton said. "But everything they look like is some kind of damned bug."

"Caterpillars," Summer suggested quietly. "I guess they get a pass on the yuck factor with most people because they become butterflies."

"Yeah, that works. For all we know this
is
the larval stage and they become something else. I'm declaring a break for us to eat and walk around. I'll set a temporary watch in here for us. If they come back quickly have them page our coms," Fenton said."

Chapter 25

"These are in good shape," First said, laying his hand on the bigger pile. "I'll pay you a margin of thirty percent over actual weight for them. The others are worn. Some of them so badly the detail is badly gone, the weight is off measurably from the sharp ones, and the edging flutes barely left in the middle of the coin. I'll offer you a fifteen percent premium on those. Or just do the better ones if you want. I don't usually offer coins in that condition, but these are such a novelty I think they will sell. I think they will be rare for some years too."

"Yeah it'll be a long time before we have enough traffic to saturate your market," Lee promised. "You have a deal if you'll pay me all in gold, because this was as much as I wanted to carry and at a premium it's going to be too heavy for me if I swap silver for silver."

"Done," First said, and looked funny at her hand thrust out. "What is this?"

"We usually clasp hands and shake them up and down a few times gently to seal a deal."

"How interesting," he said, taking her hand and letting her lead on the force of the shake. "Does it have legal force in your culture?"

"On Derfhome you'd do it in front of witnesses and it's a binding contract and gets posted to public notice whether it is written up or no. Same on Ceres, and the Fargoers do it and swear on their honor at the same time. If you renege on Fargone and it becomes known nobody will do business with you. I mean, they won't even sell you
food
. On Derfhome your Mothers will probably exile you from the clan if you foreswear your word. It used to be common on Earth but you only find it in rural areas now. Most of Earth and Mars if it isn't signed on a wet ink contract it doesn't even matter if you have video of it being signed. Maybe not then but But on At Last or the Lunar Republic if you fail to keep a contract you've shook on they will demand you meet them and give them satisfaction."

"What sort of satisfaction?" he asked puzzled.

"The satisfaction of facing each other with pistols and giving them a chance to but a bullet between your lying eyes. They take their word very seriously," Lee assured him.

"I think you should make a special note to advise people of that custom if Badgers start playing the tourist on your worlds."

"That's a good idea. I imagine we'll need a similar travel guide here," Lee guessed.

* * *

"Here they come," Probity said. He was still finishing a last cup of coffee from supper. The aliens had their little transport plates with them. They could see the vase box on screen clearly already.

They stopped short again and the short fellow, they assumed it was the same one, came forward and moved the jade carving off to the side of the blanket, retaining the sheet of paper. He did the same with the book, leaving it open, and the gold coins.

"Why are they moving everything off onto the deck?" Probity asked. Nobody wanted to guess.

They weighed the gold, decided it was a favorable ratio and loaded it on a plate leaving their silver wire in return. After some discussion and a radio message they put the glass piece with the gold wire to be removed from trade. Then they carefully folded the blanket up by halves and put the vase box and the gravity plate opposite it, but there was a second thinner plate on top of theirs.

"They'd rather have the blanket!" Fenton realized, shocked.

"They want the jade too. Look at this," Wong said. Opposite the carving they put a coil of gold wire. Easily three times as much as they'd accepted for the silver.

"Ask Mr. Lee if that is a satisfactory trade for his carving," Fenton instructed. "One does wonder why the man brought along a souvenir if it wasn't of some sentimental value," he mused.

"I sent him a video of it. He says to go for it, that it is a cheap tourist carving from Hong Kong he got on vacation that is of no particular value," Probity told him.

"Very well, when they withdraw we'll grab the gold and the gravity plate replacement. I hope they gave us the upgrade version and not just a little better plate of the same sort we have."

"Captain... " Wong came very close to cutting off Fenton's last words. His voice was strained but you don't interrupt the Captain or talk over him. Fenton took no notice or offence.

"Yes, Mr. Wong?"

"Would you have one of the cameras zoom in and take a better look at the vase container?"

"Certainly, Probity see to that would you please?"

When the camera was focused on a close tight view they could see the vase much better.

"They glued it back together?" Probity asked.

"I wouldn't bet on it," Wong said in a strained voice.

"Reproduced it? They wouldn't have time," Fenton insisted.

"What are you thinking then?" Probity demanded.

"I'd rather not say. I tell you what. I'll write it down and put it in my shirt pocket here. I may or may not show it to you later. I'll think on it."

"Fine, we don't have enough mysteries." He obviously thought Wong was being overly dramatic but wouldn't say so to his superior officer. Wong scribbled and tucked the note in his breast pocket.

 The trouble soon became apparent. The aliens didn't intend to withdraw. At least not completely. They backed off toward their hatch a bit and then stood waiting.

"It looks like we are being invited to trust them," Captain Fenton observed.

"As you said, we're really all at their mercy even sealed up, so why not?" Summer asked.

"Mr. Wong, tell your men to collect the wire for Mr. Lee and get the plates and vase. Mr. Hokkaido, since you are so willing to trust them would you to put out two more blankets in trade? If they are so valuable surely three won't saturate the market."

"Yes, thank you sir, I'm delighted to get a close look at them," Summer said.

"Well, despite your enthusiasm, I don't suggest you try to shake tentacles with them or get too personal," Captain Fenton cautioned him. "But you are welcome."

* * *

Believe me, Lee. A pocket full of the smaller coins will probably buy anything you see today," Talker insisted. "You don't have to carry that heavy bag around. If you find anything that won't buy I'll tell them to bill it to me," Talker offered.

"You guys use credit?" Lee asked suspiciously.

"Look at my father's estate. Do you really think any merchant in town doesn't know us?"

"Yeah, I guess that was silly. So what do Badgers do for art? Is there a place in town that sells jewelry or paintings? Maybe something crafty stuff like baskets or wood carvings?"

"How can you tell art from craft?" Talker asked her, perplexed.

"That's easy. Gordon told me art is always a
lot
more expensive."

* * *

Summer had two blankets, only about six kilogram which was nothing in this gravity but the bulk made it awkward. He didn't have as much low G experience as the two others sent out and walking with his arms around a big bundle didn't help his balance.

He laid them down in line with the other offerings. The other two crewmen came back out with him but held back from approaching the aliens all at once, fearing it might look too aggressive. He laid them in line with the book and considered it thoughtfully. On an impulse he leaned over and turned the book to the end sheets. He had a soft tip ink pen in his pocket and wrote. "Presented for trade on the Occasion of Humans and Derf meeting the first alien race of radically different form. Aboard their vessel. Fargone year of landing one hundred twelve. – Summer Hokkaido – and repeated his name in Japanese characters – Systems Specialist aboard
The Champion William
, Deep Space Explorer in the private expedition of discovery known as The Little Fleet."

Except for the Kanji characters of his name it was in a beautiful flowing English script. He capped the pen and left it on the open book. When he looked up the shorter alien had approached, not really close, but close enough to get a shot with the camera held over his head again. Summer was surprised, not so badly he jumped, but it threw him off stride and not knowing what else to do he bowed to the alien before retreating.

The alien stood his ground, even when the other two crew came forward and removed the alien offerings. After all three Humans retreated one of the longer aliens came forward and examined the book with renewed interest. He took the pen in a finer tentacle, trying different grips on it. Finally he held it with two tentacles wound around it five or six loops but in opposite directions. He'd seen Summer take the cap off and replace it but seemed to struggle a bit to do it himself. He first brought the pen close, perhaps to smell it, then drew a line on the surface of the hanger deck. That resulted in much hooting, screeching and waving of the facial tentacles and radio traffic.

"Come on back in," Captain Fenton instructed them. "I think it'll take them awhile to respond." Indeed the aliens removed themselves too.

When Summer returned he had some news. "Captain, when that fellow with the camera got a bit closer I smelled an odor of ammonia about him."

"That's interesting. Unless they can hold their breath like a whale they seem to breath the same stuff as we do without needing any masks or pressure equipment. Ammonia may be one of their metabolic products but I think the Biters assumed too much to think they breath it."

"If they excrete it maybe the Biters shot up the crapper or their recycling equipment," Wong speculated. "I don't see how they could have been holding their breath unless they speak with something like a diaphragm instead of like all the rest of us do."

"We should go off shift and let the 'B' crew wake us up if anything happens," Fenton said. "I'm scared I'll miss something though. Anybody who needs to can go off shift," he offered. Nobody took him up on it.

* * *

There didn't seem to be any organization in the open market at all. They didn't put all the food dealers or truck farmers together. Lee observed that food grilled on a stick seemed to be universally obvious to everybody whatever they called it. The Badger selling that was doing a brisk business. Right next to it was a stall selling plants and roots. Vegetables to eat Lee assumed. Then a buyer was offered a sample slice of some sort of red root while she watched, so yes... it was food.

There were stalls with shoes and hand tools, small electronics and functional pottery with a pretty blue glaze. She figured out after a bit that a lot of the household goods were used. They saw simple handmade baskets meant to be functional not art and similarly utilitarian rugs. After one quick circuit of the outdoor market in the heat of the day Lee was ready to see some fancier goods in the shade.

"Is there somewhere we can sit a bit and drink some water?" she asked Talker.

"There is a restaurant with shaded tables across the road from the market," he informed her. "Come, we'll take a break there. I'm ready to stop marching around too." He took her hand  and led her, even though it was crowded. They had to squeeze through the crowd but he held on tight.