Trade World Saga 1: Manual Interpretation (42 page)

They arrived at the Ullumff yard sale just as Captain UmBllatt walked down the ramp with the navigator standing in the hatch.

Brad was about to demand what was going on when the Captain spoke.

"Thank U Frens. Gud time had. U Gud giffs," he said in English though struggling with some of the words. He gave Brad a small sack and waved to the navigator who disappeared inside as the large ship starting powering up to depart. He turned around and went up the ramp before the humans could really react and when they did they realized they had better seal off the end of the corridor. Brad had just gotten the stressed space field powered up when the ship departed.

"Get security down here quick," ordered Brad who worried about bombs and biological weapons or whatever in this trash. Some of the stuff appeared to have been ripped right out, as there were loose wires and torn connectors on the backs of many items.

"What's in the bag?" Susan asked, as was her prerogative.

Brad opened the bag and briefly touched its contents. He started laughing and gave the bag to Andrew, not Susan. "This is for you," he said.

Andrew took the bag and opened it, and started laughing too. Before the others could get mad, he pulled out a handful of necklaces...fourteen Ullumff dung necklaces to be exact. They all started laughing and started looking in the boxes and bags.

There were manuals that defied description and maps and rolls of that plastic-metallic film. There was electric comm equipment. All kinds of gadgets and gizmos...it looked like they had stripped the ship of everything not essential to them making it back okay. It will take weeks before we get an inventory on all that stuff Brad thought as he kicked back and poured himself two fingers of Jack Black. Wonder how long 'til we get our next trader, Brad wondered.

McGregor came in a bit later with some information that proved amusing about the visit also. It looks like the Ullumff also took all the towels with them when they left. Brad snorted a laugh in a very Ullumff way and took another sip.

Captain UmBllatt was nibbling on a nacho and thinking about how to divide the wealth from the journey. It would be difficult but not impossible to keep this planet's location a secret. There shouldn't be undo competition until the planet was developed. Yes. The navigator is the only one who knows the planet's exact location and he's loyal to my family.

The navigator was nibbling an
apple
and correctly guessing what the captain was thinking. The captain was thinking that he should keep this little planet's location all to himself. As an undercover investigator for the Uoott Culture Guide, like the captain gave the humans, the navigator expected next year's edition of the manual would have many interesting entries about Earth. He savored the apple. Yes. The only way to get a steady supply of these... is to let everyone know about this great place. Let's see:

Profitable trade goods -

(especially marvelous electric devices)

Galactic class instrumentation and navigational control

Excellent trade conditions

(regulations exactly like manuals! Better!)

Friendly natives with four stomp accommodations (from any world)

Four stomp food, drinks and entertainment in room (your needs met – gravity, environment – must be seen to be believed)

Unprejusticed, friendly natives

Natives understand
Trade
(and many other languages).

Quarantine station on single moon

Self patrolled by powerful fleet. Don't even think about it.

New facilities with excellent service.

Facilities
better
than anything in the manuals!

Located:

(Yes. I ought to make assistant editor over this one!)

RETT WRITES COLLEGUES

I am soon to join CaptainandrewWilliams on a trip to Glim, Rett thought. They call it Bellatrix. The female, Susan, wanted to go there first and they acceded to her wishes over my more pressing need to return to my home planet. A female making decisions instead of sharing names! My oculars roll at the thought. Hopefully, my voyage will return me to you, my colleagues, so I can continue my researches among my own kind. I have gone to great lengths to train CaptainandrewWilliams but it still bares it teeth to show he likes you. They call it
smiling
. Weird I know but they do it.

This planet has a large moon base where these humans have set up a trading base. One Ullumff trader has already visited and I hope to return before these humans give away all their knowledge. They will make my stay here fruitless if they continue. The last ship traded for human-built solar powered hand calculators. Think. A calculator that is light enough to carry and will divide and multiply. These humans must be unsane. They gave away five thousand of these marvelous devices for an old star chart of the empire and surrounding nebulae. See what I mean.

About the Author

Ken R Pence, PhD is an engineering professor at Vanderbilt University, a pilot, and an active martial artist, a 5th degree blackbelt in Tae Kwon Do. He is a retired captain from the Metro Nashville Police Department where he served 31 years (16 on SWAT) and has taught police and military in the US, and Europe (England, Germany, France, and Northern Ireland) in confrontation management skills.

He is currently performs researches for DARPA on advanced sniper location systems.

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TRADE WORLD SAGA

MANUAL INTERPRETATION – Earth gets its first interstellar voyage.

PATENTLY OBVIOUS – Earth is learning to trade on other planets.

A CERTAIN EXPERTISE – Earth enforces its trade routes.

CORE VALUES – Earth travels to the Galaxy Core to search for the
originators of the lamlee.