We all laughed until she produced a silvery chunk of metal inlaid with a blue stone and tossed it on the table with a thunk. The oblong metal block, about the size of my palm, tottered on a slight convex curve across the front. I didn’t recognize it at first and then I realized it was a buckle.
Francis scooped it up before I could reach it. “Is this turquoise?”
Bev shook her head. “That’s what I thought when I saw it, but it’s lapis.”
Diane peered around Francis to look at it. “It’s gorgeous, that’s what it is.”
Bev nodded and fished one of her reserve belts out of the duffel. It only took a tick for her to connect it to the buckle and hold it up for display.
We all just stared at it. “Oh-my,” Diane summed up our collective reactions succinctly.
The combined product caught attention immediately. Several people stopped to admire it and Bev played the crowd. “Sorry, folks, this one’s not for sale, but my friend here has more belts he’d be happy to sell you and you can get the buckles from booth two sixteen. The gentleman there has a nice collection available at very reasonable prices.” About a third of the crowd headed off in that direction, another third stepped up to the table and began looking over the few belts I had left, and the rest wandered off.
When the group thinned out, I managed to get Bev to fill me in on the details.
“I was just wandering around after we hit the head and I ran across this booth. He has a big peg board of these buckles all about the same size and shape. Each is inlaid with different minerals. I don’t know how he makes them, but the results are spectacular.”
“No kidding.” Diane grinned at her, fingering the buckle.
Bev pulled a small bundle out of the pocket of her jacket. “I got four of them, one for each of my remaining belts. He gave me a good price on the proviso that I not sell them on-station.” She saw the look on my face and added, “I told him that you would be along shortly. He sold these to me for fifteen creds each. He’s asking twenty-five to thirty-five depending on the stone.”
Diane handed the buckle to Francis and he hefted it. “By the weight of this thing, the metal is probably worth that much.”
Bev nodded in agreement. “Yeah, the mass is going to be a problem for taking too many of these with us. I need to weigh them but I bet they weigh at least a hundred grams each.”
I did some quick math in my head. “Ten per kilo. I have mass for fifty and enough creds for about twenty.”
Bev grinned at me. “Depending on how well the belts sell, you’ll recover some of the mass, and a lot of the money.”
Diane raised an eyebrow in my direction. “How many do you have?”
“Pip and I got a deal on eighty of them back on Gugara.”
“Eighty, wow that’s quite a lot,” Diane said with a whistle.
“You guys should pay me a finder’s fee.” Bev teased, much to Francis and Diane’s amusement.
“Hey, I spotted the belts first.”
“Kids, if you’re gonna fight, please take it out of the booth, okay?” Francis grinned at us.
A new group of customers stepped up to the table and we had to behave, but I snapped a quick digital of the buckle with my tablet and flashed it over to Pip’s address before I started answering questions.
Customers paraded through the booth in a more or less steady stream for the rest of the afternoon. Francis and Diane sold all the scarves, almost all of the plates, and three more of the brocade vests. Francis only put one out at a time and after each sale he rummaged in his duffel and pulled out another.
After he put out the third one, I shook my head in amazement. “How many of those do you have?”
“Three more.” He grinned at me.
“Are you putting them out individually to make them seem more valuable? Like they are one of a kind or something?”
He shrugged. “They are one of a kind, just like the belts. I put them out that way so they’re easier to keep track of.”
I chuckled. “Never overlook the obvious.”
Late in the afternoon, an attractive woman in a smartly tailored blouse and slacks stepped up to the table and looked it over. “How are things going?”
“Very well, Captain.” Bev elbowed me discreetly.
I managed to suppress the gasp of recognition. “Yes, sar, very well. Thank you for setting this up for us.”
She turned to Francis and Diane. “What do you two think of the idea?”
Francis spoke first, “It’s been great. We’ve sold almost all our trade goods and it’s been fun to boot.”
Diane nodded as he spoke, “Yes, sar, I’ve been dragging those plates around for months. We’ve sold most of them and at good prices, too. My mass allotment will be wide open after today.”
The captain smiled. “Excellent.” She turned back to me and asked, “Is there anything you need?”
I shook my head. “We came in not knowing what to expect and the banner was a surprise. I’ve made some notes to myself to get some clips so we can hang it up on the drape behind us and to replace it with a tablecloth for tomorrow.”
The captain’s fingers strayed to the blue fabric and she stroked it gently. “Excellent plan, Mr. Wang. This has served as tablecloth more than once so you’re carrying on a proud tradition. Is there anything else?”
Bev spoke up, “More trade goods, Captain. At this rate, we’re going to run out. We need to let the rest of the crew know what we’re doing so they can take advantage of the booth.”
The captain nodded and smiled. “Mr. Carstairs has been recruiting all day. I think there will be enough to sell tomorrow.” She scanned our faces. “Anything else?”
We looked at each other and I answered, “No, Captain. You’ve done a lot for us already, thank you.”
“No, thank you, Mr. Wang. This is a good thing you and Mr. Carstairs are doing for the ship.”
“Thank you, Captain.”
She nodded to all of us and started on down the aisle after a few steps she turned back. “Oh, Mr. Wang, when you get aboard this evening, please collect Mr. Carstairs and report to my cabin? Around 20:00 would be good. I’d like a status report.”
“Aye, aye, Captain. My pleasure.”
She smiled and, with a jaunty wave, disappeared into the crowd.
As soon as she was gone, Bev slugged me on the shoulder. “You didn’t recognize the captain?”
“I’ve never seen her in civvies.” I rubbed my arm. “How was I to know she’d be here?”
“You’ve seen her practically naked in the sauna and you can’t spot her in civvies?” Diane laughed at me.
I looked to Francis for support but he shrugged in response.
“Well, if she’d come to the table in her towel, I might have.”
Bev punched me again.
We proceeded to sell the table bare as the last crowd of buyers came through looking for end of day bargains.
Around 16:45 the speakers gave a ping-ping-ping warning. The customers wrapped up whatever deals they were working on and began filing out. The big doors started slowly closing at 17:00 and when the pa-pong tone sounded again, most of the vendors had already taken down the booths, and pulled their grav-pallets and cargo totes toward the staff doors.
Diane and Francis helped by folding the banner neatly while I pulled the badge off the drape and Bev collapsed the table. We dropped it off at the office and headed down the lifts.
On the way down, Francis turned to Bev and me. “Diane and I are heading out to grab dinner. Either or both of you want to join us?”
I shook my head. “I need to get back to the ship. Pip is going to be chewing the bulkheads to find out how it went.”
Bev declined as well. “I’ve got the duty in the morning and my legs are killing me. I just want to get back and into the sauna.”