"We must decide a fair exchange for this merchandise," he said. "Since you like coffee, are happy to find a supply, would you consider trading in coffee beans?"
"You have the beans themselves?" Zerkay was impressed.
"With great difficulty, but we have managed to obtain a small quantity," and Zainal thought of the full cargo hold of fragrant beans in their sacks, "which I will offer for the specific goods I have been sent to find."
"Sent by whom, might I be so bold as to inquire?"
"Why, by Botany, of course," Zainal replied. Which, at one level, was true enough.
"Ah yes, the planet that you have discovered." "No, Zerkay, the planet on which I was dropped."
This information appeared to stagger Zerkay to the point where Zainal was afraid the man might tumble off his stool.
"You? An Emassi? Were dropped?" "Like a common criminal" was the unuttered qualifier.
"I was dropped, and I stay," Zainal replied firmly.
"Yes, I see," Zerkay said, and perhaps, Zainal thought, he really did. One day Zainal would discover who had made sure that a Catteni had been included in a disparate lot to be left to live or die on an unknown planet. However, Zerkay recalled himself to the business at hand, leaning an elbow casually on the stall, glancing at his half-empty cup and then at the list dangling in Zainal's fingers. "And how shall we judge the worth of each carton? For I think your friendly veteran will have already told you that trade has been very slow"
"Surely not slow for a man of your acumen." Zainal gestured toward Zerkay's obviously large and expensive stall, with its well-built amenities and outbuildings. "And trading finesse." Zainal indicated the fine fabric in which Zerkay clothed himself. So, Zainal thought, the initial courtesies were over. He had to play a very delicate balance now between desire and acquisition. His first encounter with a Barevi merchant was all-important: at least on what Kathy called their "coffee" standard.
"Is coffee another of those items no longer available on Earth?" Zerkay asked casually.
"What use could you possibly have for these parts?" Zainal coun- tered, flicking his fingers toward the pile of cartons. "We Catteni are an inventive race, to be sure, but:" He let his tone drop off.
"But you would surely be searching them out to deliver the units into the hands of those who can assemble them effectively?" shrewd Zerkay replied.
"It is, of course, a tentative venture," Zainal said, lifting his hand in a diffident manner.
"There is uncertainty all through the system," Zerkay admitted. "But you have more command of particulars than a minor merchant on Barevi."
"Minor?" Zainal infused his tone with disbelief. "No merchant on Barevi has ever lacked up-to-date information."
Meanwhile, some of the younger people in the marketplace were sidling up to Eric's stall. One of them was bold enough to flip over the cards Gail had made. They giggled at the golden teeth. Instantly, Fer ris stepped forward to give an explanation of dentistry and to forestall any attempt to make away with the cards in the spirit of mischief. For a little fellow, Ferris had learned from the Masai how to act with im-posing authority.
Two pounds a carton was what Zerkay accepted to make the trade a deal. As well as samples of the other grinds, which Kathy packaged up before his eyes, making the measures generous. She marked the bags and advised him to keep track of those he preferred so they could supply him with his preference.
"And then I must produce more cartons for your inspection?" Zerkay was slightly amused. "This is not the way business is ordinar-ily conducted at Barevi "
"No?" Zainal asked politely, his eyebrows arched above an incred-ulous expression.
"Buyers do not set up stalls and woo the sellers to return items collected on another planet.
"Are you the man who brought about the end of the Eosi?"
"I am." Zainal dropped his voice to a somber tone of regret. "You have already achieved much. I, as one of many, am in debt to you."
"Then do me the courtesy of telling other merchants that I deal honestly for the goods I require," Zainal said with great dignity. "That will be my pleasure," Zerkay said, rising from his stool. It was retrieved by one of his escorts and neatly folded up. "Good trad-ing, Emassi." He inclined his upper body respectfully and then, turn-ing on one heel, walked back to his own stall.
As he was just out of sight, two of the young Catteni began to struggle over who had the right to look at the dentistry display. Eric came out and, by the simple expedient of removing it from con tention and glowering at the miscreants, settled the problem. "If you should happen to know of someone with loose teeth, or who has lost teeth and wishes replacements, I am ready to supply the need," Eric said after them with a great deal of dignity. The younger Cattem withdrew before this unusual man took punitive measures.
"I could go to the drinking places. That's where most of the dam-age takes place, according to what Natchi says," Ferris suggested slyly to Eric. The dentist was somewhat taken aback by such a direct, if practical, method of finding customers. "I could speak to the owner and tell him where men who lose their teeth can come to have them repaired."
Discreet advertising was, of course, legitimate, so Ferris went off to see what he could discover.
While Ferris seemed fascinated by Eric, Ditsy seemed more inter-ested in running errands and generally keeping his eyes open. It was he who remembered about the lift power packs and, somewhat diffi-dently, came to Zainal the next evening with an idea.
"We did pretty well swapping those lifts, didn't we, Zainal?" he began tentatively.
"We wouldn't have had as many coffee beans and the other good things we traded them for, that's certain," Zainal replied encour-agingly.
"I know which merchant handles sales of new packs," Ditsy said. "We shall need more, certainly, to take back with us," Zainal agreed.
"Couldn't we use more lifts?" Ditsy asked. "We could."
"They don't recycle anything in Barevi. Did you know that?" "Yes, I did," Zainal replied, thinking of the piles of waste gathered up by Rassi workers on a daily basis.
"Natchi said that's how he got his lift. He makes a living from it, even if he did get it from a stinking old garbage dump."
Said in Ditsy's crackly voice, "dump" sounded more final than ever. "And you'd like to get one from the dump and see if you can fix it?"
"Well, they are useful items, and we don't have any now, do we, 'cause you traded the ones we had."
"That's right, I did. And I know that Jelco wanted one of ours very badly."
"Yeah, he was almost drooling over it," Ditsy said with a bit of malice in his smile. "Asking us stuff like its service longevity and ca-pacity 'n' stuff that I didn't know. Natchi's been telling me about a lift's versatility and showing me how to make full use of one."
"Has he?" Come to think of it, Zainal had seen the two in deep conversation together. He wished that his own sons would find some-thing honorable in the old soldier, rather than the usual contempt of the healthy for the infirm. But then, as Kris reminded him, his sons had had a very tough time for a few years and were probably still re-covering from the "trauma." Certainly they were a little confused about where they belonged. A tutor would help them find their way.
"Yes. He says with the tools we got, he could fix any we could find and have them in first-class working condition. You see," and now Ditsy's demeanor changed, "no offense, but Cattem don't take care of their machinery at all well."
"I know that."
"Natchi said that there is normal wear and tear on any machinery, but a lot of that could be avoided with a simple servicing or mini-mal care. Mostly, in the case of the lifts, just not dumping the lift on its side in the dirt and muck around here." The boy had contempt for such irresponsibility. But then, he had lived through the terrible times of the occupation and his personal values came from that experience.