A fellow captain,syrinx said appreciatively.
Its not quite the same,he replied courteously as they all started to walk towards the nearest tower. Our boats have a few bitek items grafted in, but they are basically mechanical. I sail across waves, you sail across light-years.
To each their own,she replied playfully. there was an almost audible buzz as their thoughts meshed at a deeper, more intense, level. For a moment she felt the sun on his bare torso, the strength in his figure, a sense of balance which was the equal to her spacial orientation. And the physical admiration, which was mutual.
Do you mind if I go to bed with him?she asked Ruben on singular engagement. He is rather gorgeous.
I never stand in the way of the inevitable,he replied, and winked.
Eysk had an apartment on the towers fifteenth floor, a large one which doubled as an entertainment suite for visiting traders. He had chosen a rich style, combining modernist crystal furniture with a multi-ethnic, multi-era blend of artwork from across the Confederation.
The reception room had a transparent wall with archways leading out onto a broad balcony. A long table of sculpted blue crystals flecked with firefly sparks sat in the middle of the room, laid with a scrumptious buffet of Atlantean seafood.
Ruben glanced round at the collection of ornaments and pictures, pulling his lower lip thoughtfully. The seafood trade must be pretty good.
Dont let Eysks dragon hoard fool you,kilda said, bringing him a goblet of pale rose wine. His grandfather, Gadra, started it a hundred and eighty years ago. Pernik is one of the older islands. Our family could have its own island by now if we didnt suffer from these investments. Pieces lose their relevance so fast these days.
Ignore the woman, Ruben,gadra spoke out of the islands multiplicity. A lot of this stuff is worth double what it was bought for. And all of it retains its beauty providing you view it in context. Thats the trouble with young people, they take no time to appreciate lifes finer qualities.
Syrinx allowed Eysk to lead her along the table. There was an enormous range of dishes arrayed, white meats arranged on leaves, fish steaks in sauces, some wild-looking things that were all legs and antenna and didnt even seem to have been cooked. He handed her a silver fork and a goblet of carbonated water.
The art is to taste then flush the mouth with a sip,he told her.
Like a wine tasting?
Yes, but with so much more to savour. Wines are simply variants on a theme. Here we have diversity that defies even the island personalities to catalogue. Well start with unlin crab, you said you remembered it.
She pushed her fork into the pt-like slab he indicated. It melted like fudge in her mouth. Oh! This is just as good as I remember. How much do you have?
They started to discuss details as they moved round the table. Everybody joined in good-naturedly, advising and arguing over individual dishes, but the final agreements were always between Syrinx and Eysk. The Jovian Bank segment of the islands personality was brought in to record the transactions as they were finalized.
They wound up with a complicated arrangement whereby Syrinx agreed to sell ten per cent of any cargo of Norfolk Tears back to Eysks family in return for preferential treatment to obtain the seafood she wanted. The ten per cent would be sold at just three per cent above the transport cost, to allow Eysk to make a decent profit distributing it to the rest of the island. Syrinx wasnt entirely happy, but she had come into the Norfolk run too late to make heavy demands to her only supplier. Besides, ninety per cent was still a lot of drink, and Oenone could transport it right across the Confederation. The price was always set in relation to the distance from Norfolk it had travelled, and a voidhawks costs were minimal compared to an Adamist starships.
After two hours negotiating Syrinx stepped out onto the balcony with Serina and Mosul. Ruben, Tula, and Alto had gathered on one of the reception rooms low settees to polish off some of the wine.
They were on a corner of the tower which gave them a view over both the park and the ocean. A gentle moist breeze ruffled Syrinxs hair as she leaned on the railing, a glass of honey wine held loosely in her hand.
Im not going to eat for days after that,she told the other two, giving away a sense of rumbling pressure inside her belly. Im bloated.
I often think we named this planet wrong,mosul said. It should have been Bounty.
Youre right,serina said. No Norfolk merchant is going to be able to resist this cargo.she was twenty-two, the only crew-member younger than Syrinx, slightly shorter than the Edenist norm, with black skin and a delicate face. She was watching Syrinx and Mosul with quiet amusement, enjoying the vaguely erotic overspill of their growing rapport.
Syrinx was delighted with her company, it was nice to have someone so unashamedly girlish on board. Shed chosen her original crew for their experience, and they were highly professional, but it was nice to have someone she could really let her hair down with. Serina added a sparkle to shipboard life which had been absent before.
Were a pretty common choice,mosul said. But none the less successful for that. Nearly every first-time captain takes some of our produce. Thats if theyve got any sense. You know, even the Saldanas send a ship here every couple of months to supply the palace kitchens.
Does Ione Saldana send one as well?serina asked interestedly.
I dont think so.
Tranquillity doesnt own any starships,syrinx said.
Have you been there?mosul asked.
Certainly not, its a blackhawk base.
Ah.
Serina looked up suddenly, her head swivelling round. At last! Ive just worked out whats missing.
What?syrinx asked.
Birds. There are always birds by the shore on normal terracompatible worlds. Thats why its so quiet here.
One of the larger cargo spaceplanes chose that moment to lift from its pad. The vertical-lift engines produced a strident metallic whine until it was a hundred metres in the air. It banked to starboard and slid off over the ocean, picking up speed rapidly.
Serina started laughing. Almost quiet!
Be a friend,syrinx said in singular engagement. Vanish!she pulled a wry face, and drained her wineglass. Refill time. Ill leave you two alone for a moment. She sauntered off into the reception room with a suspicious wiggle.
Syrinx grinned. My loyal crew,she told mosul in singular engagement.
Your attractive crew,he replied on the same mode.
Ill tell her you said that. Once were safely outsystem.
He came over and put his arm round her shoulder.
I have a small confession,she said. This isnt all pleasure.
It looks that way to me.
I want to hire a boat and visit the whales. Id also need someone who can navigate properly to take me. Is that possible?
Alone on a boat with you? Thats not merely possible, thats a guaranteed certainty.