A Starship Called Starsong

Chapter 31

I sipped my tea as if deep in thought. In reality, I was paying close attention to Starsong as he provided me with the information I seriously needed to get these two traders to cooperate with me, as well as with each other.

This planet was one of the very few that had a rather valuable metal that was only found in a handful of other star systems. They were the two main traders for this metal on this tiny backwater planet.

The trouble was that they had a serious grudge against each other and tried to antagonize the other whenever possible. I had originally entered the trading house and ordered a tea, mentioning to the lady at the counter that I was interested in talking with a trader about this rare metal.

Somehow, both men had shown up almost instantly instead of just one.

I suspected that both had been hovering outside of the room, just hoping the Captain of the rather shiny and large trading ship would show up for a profitable sale. They had certainly shown up within seconds of the other.

Now, they were making snide remarks about each other and sharing glares in a manner that was likely going to ramp up into an all-out fight before too much longer.

These two were far more interested in outdoing the other as opposed to actually making a deal. Trying to force them to work together at this particular second was not going to work. This was going to require a slightly different approach...

I inquired, "Whose metal is of the higher quality?"

"Mine!"

"No, mine!"

I interrupted what was about to become a rather heated argument. "Fine, you both have high-quality metal. Whose metal gives me the most volume with the least weight?"

"Mine."

"Mine does!"

They were glaring at each other and not even looking at me. I raised an eyebrow with intent interest as I spoke calmly, "Considering that this metal gains quality by removing dross and reducing volume, this makes you both liars."

The two men spun their heads around to stare blankly at me as they finally processed my actual words and my past questions. Their eyes grew wide with shock. My words had been a proverbial slap in the face, but Starsong and I had deliberately set up that trap to make them stop fighting and truly focus on me. I had to shake them up some more if this was going to go anywhere though...

I took a slow sip of my tea once more. "I fail to see why I should deal with arguing liars when I know that neither of you two actually owns a mine or mining rights."

I now had their undivided attention, although both were uncharacteristically silent.

I spoke slowly, "Since you two know so much about each other, you two can work together to create a trade proposal. You will each get 50% of the trade, so your profit will be equal. I will return here at 6 pm to listen to it."

They immediately started protesting.

"That isn't fair!"

"I can't work with him!"

"This is an outrageous request!"

Starsong chimed in, "Let them blow off some steam for a few moments."

I let them rattle on for a while longer as per Starsong's advice.

I held up my hand to stop them, and, surprisingly, they stopped talking. I responded calmly, "There is nothing saying I cannot contact the mine owners directly at this point. I am sure they would be very happy for a direct sale. If you cannot abide by my request, then I will take my business to others."

I waited them out as they stared at me with occasional glances at their foe. The one finally spoke up. "Regardless of the amount you buy, we each get half of the sale?"

I nodded. "Correct."

He sighed heavily in defeat. "You drive a hard bargain. I am willing to try it though."

We both looked at the other man, who reluctantly nodded. I smiled slightly. "Excellent. I will return at 6 pm to hear your trade proposals."

With that, I stood up and nodded a farewell to them before leaving. I was somewhat curious to see if they would be able to work together to pull this off, or if I would have a legitimate excuse to contact the mine owners.

Policy on most planets said that traders had to deal with the authorized suppliers, and a ship could not bypass them without jumping through a lot of hoops each time they docked. Their blatant lie and refusal to work with my compromise would allow me to bypass them with this planet's policies this time. Most Captains wouldn't even bother since the process was different on every planet, although it always had two things in common - it was tricky and terribly complicated.

Judging from the stares I was getting from the staff here, it was the first time someone had managed to pull this trick on them.

* * *

The Procurement Officer flipped through several charts as we ate some lunch in the upper dining area. He said, "Half of our cargo bays are currently empty. The engines don't even seem to notice the extra weight of our current cargo, so I don't see a restricting limit on how much of this heavy metal we can stick in the remaining bays."

I nodded without surprise. There was no true gravity in space, but most trade ships had to watch their weight, or else disaster could strike when they attempted to dock. Engines didn't have to be powerful to work in outer space. Gravity was a more dangerous foe though...

I inquired, "Are there any particular supplies you need me to set up contacts and agreements for?"

He flipped through more papers; he had an odd attachment to paper instead of using electronic systems. "Not on this planet. I see we are stopping at Sceltar in a few weeks, and that is a rather large port with a lot of things I am hoping for. Most are straight trades that I can arrange, but several will require some agreements since we will likely return there within six months. Those agreements will require a Captain to set them up. I will send you a list once I finalize it."

"Sounds good."

The Procurement Officer finished his lunch and headed off to his own duties. I finished my meal shortly afterward. 'What is next? The new crew won't be here for several hours, and my meeting with the obstinate traders is at 6 pm.'

"This planet is rather small, so there were only two trade negotiations lined up. One has been done, and the metal traders were postponed. No deliveries are expected until tomorrow. You have the next four hours free."

I shook my head slightly in surprise. 'Free time? Since when does a Captain get free time while docked in port?'

"Small ports like this don't entail much work and are usually brief stops. Besides, by law, all crew members are supposed to get ship-leave during routine hours at least once every five days in port. This includes Captains. Our crew has gotten at least one afternoon of ship-leave at each stop so far. You are overdue for both your day and evening ship-leave."

That got my feet moving faster. I put my dishes in the dishes bin before heading straight for my quarters. The Captain on the Tyndel had always skimped on ship-leave, so I was quite excited to put on some civilian clothing and explore the city while browsing through the small markets.