Nathan Lowell - Quarter Share

After a couple of stans there was a lull in the action and we all just stood around grinning at each other.

Diane had sold about half of her scarves and a couple of plates. Bev had taken the four belts she wanted to hold for St. Cloud and put them in the duffel but sold all the rest of hers and a couple of mine. At the rate they were going, we’d be out by midafternoon, but she’d made a profit already, and one more from my pile would put me in the black as well. Diane and Francis seemed pleased, too.

Bev announced, “I need to stretch my legs.”

Diane volunteered to go with her. “You boys mind the store. We’ll be back soon.”

With that, they marched off toward the restrooms, heads together in some kind of feminine conference.

Francis and I were left staring at each other.

“So much for the window dressing.” He shot me a wry grin.

“What? You don’t think a little beef cake will work?” I pulled the leg of my jeans up to display the pale, hairy flesh beneath.

He grimaced and shook his head with a laugh.

A group of people came into the booth and Francis and I had our hands full for a few ticks. I managed to sell a belt at almost forty creds and Francis sold two of the plates and a rich, emerald green vest with gold threads. The woman who bought Francis’ vest had red hair and eyes that matched the new garment perfectly. She was cute to begin with, but when she slipped on the vest, she was stunning. The redhead never took it off the whole time she was haggling and Francis got a hundred and twenty creds for it.

“Nice.” I congratulated him as they left.

“Thanks. She was an easy sell. She wasn’t going to leave without it.”

I could still see her walking away through the crowd. “Yeah, I don’t blame her.”

Diane came back with a beverage carrier of coffees and a bag of sandwiches. “Bev’s gone prowling. Was that one of the vests I just saw walking off?”

Francis smiled. “Yup, got a hundred and twenty for it.”

Diane grinned and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks.”

She smiled at me and winked. “Only paid twenty for that on Darbat.”

The coffee tasted muddy and bitter, and the sandwiches soaked through the paper napkins, but I was hungry and ate every bite. The steady trickle of people continued and we took turns putting down our sandwiches to talk to them. I sold another belt before Bev got back.

She sashayed up to the booth pretending to be a customer. “What darling belts. Too bad they don’t have buckles.”

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?”