On their return, Zainal was instantly disquieted when he saw the gaggle of folk, some in the tunics of the market police, clustered in front of their stall. Ferris had been anxiously awaiting their return for he darted toward Zainal, pointing out Kapash, who was speaking to Bazil and Peran with menace. "Questions, questions, and your sons have been answering in the negative. Which, of course, is only cor-rect. You, Captain, must inform the merchants that you are the owner of that piece of gold and where you came by it." Ferris looked very worried and indeed, Zainal thought, had good reason to be.
The market security people were very careful to apprehend any thieves who might roam the market, and they were also on the look-out for suspicious quantities of any metals that might have been smuggled in without benefit of the percentage that by law the market should have on the sale of such commodities. Zainal had taken the precaution of making an inventory of all he had brought with him and the fact that it had been mined on Botany. He would not be subject to the tax if he used the gold in exchange for other items. But he knew the rules and he knew that Kapash was aware of that. Espe-cially since Kapash had known of Zainal's time spent in command of Barevi. There were subtle differences between gold from disparate worlds, and the market had experts who could differentiate. Luxel's gold would obviously not be part of Zainal's inventory. Zainal just hoped that Luxel's sample had been appropriately declared by him.
As Zainal strode quickly to join his people and defend their inno-cence, he noticed that Eric had a very tight knot of young men around his place.
"Your father, all respect to him," Kapash was saying to a staunchly defensive Peran, "knows that gold must be taxed."
"Not in exchange for goods and services," Zainal said, charging right up to Kapash, making his squad break apart. He pulled Peran back to him, hands on the boy's stiff shoulders, tightening his fingers to show approval.
"Whatever," Kapash retorted angrily, aware that he had possibly overstepped his duties by bullying the son. "There is the matter of dispensing an unknown beverage that was not stipulated as the pur-pose for this stall."
"We are not dispensing a beverage for a price, but as a private re-freshment while a bargain is being made," Zainal said crisply. He did not wish to antagonize Kapash but it was clear that the man wanted to cause trouble for him if he could.
"And the matter of that unusual equipment." Kapash gestured with a thumb over his shoulder at Eric's appliances. "They must be checked as possibly hazardous."
Zainal heard Eric's snort. "You obviously did not have a chance to visit Terra," Zainal retorted, "or you would know that this is dental equipment, to repair teeth."
"You there." Kathy Harvey pointed to a man in the forefront of the crowd that had now assembled to watch the scene. He had a grin on his face in anticipation of watching a fracas and it clearly showed his gold crowns. "You have gold teeth, so you can reassure Kapash that this equipment is useful."
"Me? How would I know that?"
"By the smile on your face. You have had similar work done on your teeth that Eric is beginning for the Catteni."
Kapash now gestured for the man to step forward. He did with great reluctance, jamming his upper lip down over his teeth. Eric stepped forward and met the man, putting his fingers on the man's chin.
"Open! Wider! Ah yes, good work," Eric said in Catteni, Judi-ciously peering into the man's mouth. "And halitosis, too. Remark-able diet your folk have, Zainal. Whatever you paid for it, you got a bargain for that work," he added, amiably slapping the Catteni on the shoulder. "But," and now he waggled his finger at Luxel, "I do better work. Does he have the goods, Zainal? Because his gold is the proper quality. I would ordinarily cut it with platinum, but I think the piece will go far enough to provide him with the caps those tusks of his re-quire. How do you grow teeth like that?" The last was said with ad-miration.
Eric shot Kapash a quick, measuring look and then resumed his place on his own dental chair and, folding his hands serenely across his chest, went back to observing the scene with amused detachment.
"You did not say that you were selling services, Zainal," Kapash accused him.
"You did not ask. We are selling services in exchange for goods, which is quite legal and requires no further licensing."
"But you are dispensing a beverage." He flicked dirty-nailed fin-gers at the cups on the table.
"We are, as I said, providing private refreshment for our customers as we discuss terms and prices."
"Would you care to discuss items with us, Market Commander Kapash?" Kathy Harvey said, with such a winning smile that Zainal hoped he'd remembered to tell her that the man was a known lecher. She offered him a cup she had just poured, and although he made a show of fighting with his principles, he took it quickly enough, savoring the smell of the coffee before he took a sip.
"That is splendid coffee. From Earth?"
"Yes indeed, a scarce commodity these days."
"And what are you trading it for? I need such facts for my report." A report Zainal was certain would never be written, much less filed. "As I mentioned before, we are looking for spare parts that were transported here during the recent occupation of Earth."
"Ah yes, Supreme Emassi Kamiton remarked to me that you might be seeking to purchase some bits and pieces."
"Yes, well, my success would mean that he"-Zainal lowered his voice and leaned toward Kapash-"would be able to improve his own communications network."
"How?"
"Ah." Zainal stepped back. "Now that would be telling, wouldn't it?" He gave a slight smile.
"What exactly do you wish to bargain for?" There was a little em-phasis on the "bargain," and since Zainal knew that as market man-ager Kapash would know exactly who might have what, including items he might have secreted in case they became valuable, Zainal al-lowed his smile to broaden. Zainal thought rapidly of a diplomatic way of diverting Kapash, a man known for his greed.
"This and that," he said with a negligent flick of his fingers. "What have you to tempt us?"
"How do I know that when you do not tell me what you seek?" Zainal thought quickly and noticed Ferris fondling his prized handset.
"Such items as this," he said, unclipping the unit from Ferris's belt and displaying the cell phone. "Invaluable communications unit. See, I am in contact with my ship at all times."
He depressed the panic button and instantly a voice, made tinny by the cheap handset, answered.
"Baker Alpha Sugar Sugar One."
"Zainal. Testing. Above board, out," he responded and closed the connection before offering Kapash the instrument to examine. They had devised a number of passwords for different situations. "Above board" was "Things are proceeding well," while "Mayday" meant "Emergency." "Marines are coming" would indicate immediate physi-cal help would be appreciated.
Between finger and thumb, Kapash accepted the unit from Zainal and turned it over.
"Connects across miles of empty territory so even the fastest ad-vance units may be in touch:'
Kapash handed it back with an air of disdain. "I can do that with any unit on Barevi."
"Certainly. I would expect you to be so equipped. But Botany is not so well supplied. Nor could we find more in the few unlooted storehouses on Terra. Most of the type we need on Botany are prob ably," and Zainal paused to swing his glance around the market, "here. However, coffee, too, is in short supply on Terra." Which was basi-cally the truth since there was no transport to bring the beans to for-eign marketplaces.
"No more?" Kapash was startled and sipped eagerly at his cup. "No. Much of Earth's agriculture was laid to waste. It takes time to grow proper coffee and it takes experts to harvest the crop and process it. There will be no more until the industry recovers from the occupation." Zainal didn't think the Catteni had looted all the items required for the production of coffee, but he was reasonably certain that he'd find some spare parts languishing here on Barevi, apart from those needed to repair the plantations' vehicles.