Nathan Lowell - Quarter Share

Pip spoke while I was still untangling my tongue. “Yes, sar, thank you, sar.”

Mr. Maxwell nodded. “You’re welcome. Dismissed.”

We took the hint and headed back to the galley to start the evening meal. First night of liberty or not, neither of us wanted to leave the ship until we got the idea fully hashed out. As we expected, almost nobody came to the mess deck for dinner. We served the few watch standers left aboard and waited.

Near the end of dinner, a message from the captain pinged into our tablets simultaneously. It confirmed that the ship had rented booth four seventy-eight at Margary Station’s flea market for four standays beginning at 08:00 the next day. She instructed us to pick up our authorization certificate from the market office no later than 07:30 under the name of McKendrick Mercantile Cooperative.

Pip looked at me across the mess table. “Okay, I’ll take the duty tomorrow. You get it set up.”

“Me? You’re the trading genius.”

He grinned at me. “Your idea, so you have to do it.”

I shook my head slowly. This trip just got stranger and stranger. I left Pip with clean up duty and went in search of people to help me in the morning.

My first stop was the berthing area where I found Bev coming off watch and getting ready for liberty. “The captain approved the flea market.”

She turned wide-eyed in my direction. “Wha-? How’d the captain get involved?”

“Pip and I wanted to make sure there wasn’t any conflict so we went to Mr. Maxwell. As it turns out, only the ship can officially rent the space but can do it for the benefit of the crew. The only catch was he had to run it by the captain. We just got the confirmation a few ticks ago. They rented space in the name of McKendrick Mercantile Cooperative and anybody in the crew with trade goods will be free to use the space to sell their stuff.”

“Sounds great. Will it be expensive?”

“That’s the best part, the rental is only ten creds a day and it’s a simple pay-as-you go plan.”

Bev grinned. “I’ll be switched. You actually did it.”

“Yup. Only problem is that Pip has the duty tomorrow and I’m a little nervous about setting up by myself.”

“I’m off tomorrow. I’ll help ya. Besides, it’ll give me a chance to check out the other booths.” She grinned wolfishly. “Might find something else to spend my money on.”

Relief washed over me. “Thanks, Bev. I really mean it.”

“No worries. Besides.” She paused and gave me a wink. “I can’t have my boy toy wandering around unprotected now, can I?”

“Well, with Big Bad Beverly watching my back, there’s nothing I’m gonna be worried about.”

We both grinned and got on with our evening plans.

I found Sandy Belterson on the track and learned that Brill was off the ship already, but would be returning in the morning. I went down to the environmental section and found Francis and Diane on duty and filled them in on the plan. They each had some trade goods and were excited to join in. I asked them to pass the word and went back to my bunk to rack out.

When the watch stander came for Pip the next morning, Beverly and I got up too. We put on shipsuits and headed to the galley for breakfast and to talk things over.

I made the coffee while Pip set up Cookie’s omelet station. Bev accepted the first cup from the pot and let Pip practice his omelet skills on her while Cookie finished putting up the bread. In port mess duty seemed so laid back by this time that I found it ridiculous I had ever considered it difficult. The three of us had become a well-integrated machine, each doing the required tasks without the least interference from either of the others. Any one of us could probably have handled the breakfast alone, but Cookie spent his time preparing his signature breads, pastries, and desserts that were his pride and joy.

After the few crew members were served, Pip, Bev, and I gathered at a table to talk about how to proceed.

Pip started, “You two should go and take your belts. I can send the other crew up to find you later. Sell as many as you want and I’ll take the big bundle up tomorrow. Bev, you have dibs, so I won’t put mine out until you’re done selling, okay?”

She grinned. “I’m only planning on taking four of the eight. If we do this on St. Cloud, too, we’ll probably make a killing, and I want to have at least half of my belts available for that.”

Pip sipped his coffee while he considered. “You’re going to take yours up, aren’t you, Ish?”

“Yeah, at the moment it’s all I have to sell and I’d like to get something out there. I’ll take the eight I bought with Bev. It won’t matter if I sell them all, because we have that whole bundle. The big question is how much to charge?”

Bev finished her omelet and pushed the tray back. “I was thinking thirty creds. That’s more than double what we paid for them.”

Pip shook his head. “If it were me, I’d start at fifty and let ’em talk me down to thirty. These are top shelf goods. The leather is amazing and the tool work is exceptional. The rock jockeys and metal munchers will have money to spare and if you don’t take it from them, they’ll just drink it away instead.”

Bev smiled. “Point taken. We’ll see what the market will bear and that’ll help you move the large bundle later.”

Pip nodded and it seemed like a logical plan to me.

I looked back and forth between the two of them. “Do you think any of the crew will come to sell in the booth?”

Bev nodded vigorously. “They will, but maybe not until they see how it works out.”

Pip lifted his chin to get our attention. “I have one more question. How do we reimburse the ship?”

Bev and I looked at each other and then back at him. “Reimburse the ship?”

He nodded. “If Ish and I had taken this on, we’d have just absorbed the cost in the day’s business, but this is ship’s business. We can’t expect the rest of the crew to absorb the expense, can we?”

Bev snorted. “We only need to cover ten creds a day, right?”

“Something like that.” Pip shrugged. “The captain paid out forty creds for the rental.”

“No table,” I pointed out. “I wonder if I can add that at the office this morning.”

“How much is one?” Bev asked.

“A cred a day.”

“Whoa, can you afford it, big spender?”

Pip grinned. “I think that’s the answer. Ish, you and I were going to cover this expense when we asked Mr. Maxwell so why don’t we just do it.”

“Do you need me to chip in?” Bev asked.

I shook my head. “No, we’ve got this. After all, you’re only selling a few belts and we have that big bundle. We should make more than enough to cover it.”

“Okay, well if you want me to, just let me know.”

“Gimme twenty now and I’ll add twenty and reimburse the ship while you’re out setting up,” Pip said before getting up to start another pot of coffee.

I pulled out my tablet and transferred the credits. “Done.” While I was in my account I noted that I’d been paid again and that I was building up a respectable balance, even after having paid out the two hundred back on Gugara.

Bev stood up and grabbed her dirty dishes. “Okay, I need to get into some civvies and go get seriously commercial for a bit.” She looked at me with a twinkle in her eye. “Wanna join me?”

We all laughed and started moving. We took the dishes to the galley and Bev and I headed to the berthing area to change while Pip returned to morning mess duty. As I slipped on my jacket, I couldn’t help but remember that leather coat with the black silk lining on Gugara. I half wished I’d gotten it but the mass would have chewed into my trading. It only took a few ticks to change clothes and we headed for the lock with our belts in a duffel bag.