The banner and badge went into my duffel to pass off to Pip and we separated at level six. Bev and I headed for the ship while Diane and Frances went off to eat. We checked in with the officer of the watch and had our respective mass allowances adjusted. Mine went down but Bev’s went up because of the buckles. They did indeed mass a lot for their size. Curiously, the banner didn’t get charged to either of us, but instead was marked down to Lois McKendrick. I looked to Bev, but she didn’t seem surprised so I didn’t ask.
Back in the berthing area, Bev changed and headed for the sauna while I stowed my gear, took a quick shower, and jumped into a shipsuit before going to the mess deck to see Pip and Cookie. It had been a long day.
Chapter 21
Margary Station
2352-January-11
Just after 18:00 I stepped onto the mess deck and took advantage of mealtime by grabbing some pasta and bread from the buffet. Pip heard me and came out of the galley. Cookie followed right behind him.
Pip looked at me, anticipation radiating from his body. “Well? How’d it go?”
“Great. I sold everything I had, but I’m bushed. It’s hard standing there all day.”
Pip drew me a mug of coffee and delivered it to the table. “Okay, pleasantries over. Where’d you find that buckle?”
“I didn’t.” I swallowed a mouthful of pasta before continuing, “Bev did, booth two something. Two-eighteen, I think she said, or maybe it was two-sixteen. It shouldn’t be too hard to find.”
Cookie smiled and stepped back into the galley, but Pip nodded. “So? Tell me everything.”
I ran through the day in roughly chronological order, starting with picking up the banner at the lock and returning it. “In the morning, you need to take the badge to the office and get a table. It’s already paid for. Somewhere we need to find some clips so you can hang the banner and you’ll also need some kind of cloth to put down on the table to cover the top. They’re in pretty rough shape.”
Pip nodded.
“Now, it’s your turn. The captain said you’ve been recruiting?”
He nodded again. “I’ve got a couple of people who are interested. Rhon Scham has a ton of stuff to sell and agreed to be my wingman for the day. She’s good at buying but hasn’t had a lot of success selling so she was really enthusiastic. Sean Grishan from the bridge crew and Biddy Murphy from cargo are coming along too.”
“Sounds like it’s going to be worthwhile again tomorrow. Oh, by the way, we have an appointment tonight at 20:00.”
“Yeah? Who with?”
“The captain. She wants a status report.”
Pip chuckled nervously. “Well, at least we’ve got something to report.”
I finished my dinner and took the dishes into the galley. Cookie smiled and waved to us as he left for his nightly card game. “You gentlemen don’t need me under foot. Well done today-both of you.” We waved to his back as he left. It was only a few ticks of work for us to clear away the dinner buffet, sweep, and swab.
We had a stan to spare before our meeting with the captain so we retired to the berthing area to compare notes. Bev was back from the sauna and got the packet of buckles out to show Pip. We spread them out on the berthing area’s table and he looked them all over.
Pip considered the buckles as he asked Bev, “What did you think of the day?”
She grinned. “It was a kick. Between the selling and the ogling-”
“Ogling?” Pip shot me a glance. “You didn’t say anything about that.”
I shrugged and he turned back to Bev. “What is this ogling of which you speak?”
She laughed at his expression. “Well, between the ones who came to see the tough bitch in leather and the others who wanted to look down Diane’s blouse, there was a lot of it. I might have even done a bit of it myself.” She winked with a sly grin. “There were a lot of tight butts walking around there today.” She looked at me. “Don’t you think?”
I coughed in surprise. “Um, I didn’t notice, actually. I was trying to figure out how the whole booth thing was going to work and then I got tied up in selling stuff and all.”
She pulled a long face at me. “Oh, Ish, you were too busy watching the merchandise. If you want to be a real seller, you need to learn to watch the customers. That last belt you could have gotten another five credits for. That lady liked you.”
“She was old enough to be my mother!”
“And your point is what?”
Pip rapped on the table. “Please, children, focus.”
Bev sat up straight and folded her hands playfully in front of her before continuing, “Anyway, the initial set up was rough. We looked like the amateurs we are. If we hadn’t had the banner, we would have been displaying the belts on that dinged up tabletop and that wouldn’t have been pretty.”
Pip nodded. “If we hang the banner, we’ll need a cloth or something for the table. Anything else?”
“Several of the vendors had grav-pallets with their booth already set up on it. They just towed the pallet into place, locked it down, and started selling.”
Pip nodded. “Yeah, I told you about Drus’ setup. She had something like that. I don’t know how we’d manage that. We can’t very well use one of the ship’s and we can’t afford the mass to buy one of our own.” He shrugged.
Bev thought for a moment. “A thermos of coffee would have been good. There’s a shop around the corner but the coffee was expensive.”
I chimed in with my two creds, “And muddy. The only other thing I really missed was a place to sit between sales. My feet and legs are killing me.”
Bev nodded. “Did you see those folding chairs what’s her name had in her booth?”
“Oh, you mean Virgil’s wife?”
Bev nodded. “Yeah. They had tubular frames with a mesh seat and back. They looked very light. When things got busy she just folded it up and stashed it under the table.”
“Yeah, I saw that, but I don’t know where to find them, or how we would stow them.”
Pip pondered. “I wonder if we can rent them.”
Bev and I both shrugged.
He turned his attention back to the buckles. “These are exquisite. What booth again?”
Bev spoke up, “Two sixteen. He’s expecting to see you. His only concern is that we take them off-station to sell so he’s not competing against himself in the flea market.”
“That was the same thing that Drus Martin was worried about on Gugara.” Pip turned to me. “How many of the belts should we try to fit with buckles and take to St. Cloud?”
I shrugged. “You know better than I do. We were selling the bare belts for thirty to forty creds each. The buckles should drive that up to fifty or sixty.”
Bev shook her head strenuously. “Oh, no. More than that.” She went to her locker and pulled out the belt she’d put the buckle on at the booth. “Look at this. It’s worth at least a hundred creds.” She strapped it on around her waist and let it ride low on her hips. She only wore a ship’s tee and boxers that made up the standard dress around the berthing area for men and women alike.
I found that I really didn’t breathe right all of a sudden and Pip’s voice came from a distance. “Well, if you model them like that, I think we can get a lot more.”
Bev looked down and laughed. She took the belt off then and laid it on the table. “You get my meaning, wise ass.”
Luckily, my tablet bipped to remind me that the captain was expecting us. Pip and I headed for officer country while Bev stowed the stuff back in her locker.
“Are you okay?” Pip looked at me as we headed down the passage.
“Yeah, why?”
He shrugged elaborately. “Oh, I don’t know. You just seemed like you were having trouble breathing there for a tick.”