Harry's Harpoon

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Continued

The two proceeded to openly haggle for price. After a few minutes an amount was set. Blicate entered the amount in her pad and printed out two copies of a contract that included exclusive, non-transferable rights. At the bottom she specified a bulk that was just slightly larger than his normal consignment. He placed his ring seal over the designated space and pressed the small button on its side. An imprint that was impossible to duplicate was transferred to each set. Blicate placed her ring over the two documents then paused as if she were having second thoughts. After a few seconds she made her seal and handed Harry his copy.

Titionco bowed her head and in the tradition of her people intoned, "a trade made in the spirit of goodwill."

Harry was now ready to make his move. "A ship belonging to my people arrived just before I came here. Perhaps the merchant on board has a good supply of what you want."

Titionco immediately passed across a copy of what was left on her manifest. "I would offer all of this and would be willing to forego a forty percent premium of fair market value."

Harry looked at the sheet and determined that with premium this would cover a little more than half his shipment. "I can call and ask what is available" He got up to move away from the table.

O Prictone shoved his manifest toward Harry and offered a forty- five percent premium. "I am sure I speak for my whole group." The other two made gestures of agreement.

Harry glanced at the sheet and was pleased to see that it would amply cover the balance of his shipment. "Again, all I can do is call and see what may be procured. Please be patient."

Harry saw a distressed look in the eyes of Blicate. "Perhaps there will be enough to cover the rest of your goods."

She curtly nodded. Harry stepped away and activated a portable sonic umbrella. He punched some numbers into his pad, hit the call button, and then waited a few moments before pretending to talk to someone. He nodded and shook his head a few times then repeated the process two more times. On the fourth phantom call, he pretended to talk in earnest. After half a minute he slowly began to smile and gestured back at the table to indicate he was making progress. Just before ending the call he gave a concerned look and then abruptly ended the call. He shut down the sonic umbrella, put a smile on his face and returned to the table.

"I have good news and bad news. The good news, the merchant is willing to sell all that he has and will only accept a thirty-seven percent premium. He intends to give two percent to me as a finder's fee. By making such a quick sale he will be able to ship out today and spend time with his family before his next consignment is due to ship. Unfortunately, these two transactions will deplete his entire stock. He did not state a desire for organics."

Blicate's already pale complexion took on an even whiter shade of pale. She was staring into space above the table. Everyone at the table tried to look properly pained at her own discomfort.

It was Titionco who spoke first, "Perhaps you will stumble onto something en route to your homeworld."

"It is not likely, I had planned a direct flight from here." She suddenly smiled bravely, "I apologize. Here I am feeling sorry for myself after you have all come into such good fortune. I must be seeing to the details of my departure. Please excuse me. I hope that you all have as much success in the future as you have had today." She swiftly got up and walked away.

I Solodore emitted the equivalent of a small cough by her species standards. It was her way of breaking the silence and alerting everyone that she was about to speak. "It is sad that we have all done so well while she must return home with so little to show."

O Prictone and Titionco gave each other a knowing nod. It was the Replon, who spoke what they were both thinking, "She will not return. There is little room for failure in her society. Had I known things would turn out the way they had I might have held back a portion of my platinum."

"I too believe that one tank of gas could have been reserved." The entire table observed a few moments of stillness. Then O Prictone turned to Harry, "How might I contact this fellow human of yours."

"He is on the other end of the terminal and has already notified the port agents. His shipment is..." Harry glanced at his pad, "at Storage Bay 11676. As part of my finder's fee I will act as the transacting agent."

"That unit is a good distance from here. Has it been unsealed and verified by the Station Masters office?"

"It has been inspected and is ready for reassignment. I have been assured that by the time we get to a sub office just down the corridor from here, all the details will have been worked out. Shall we go and register our transactions with the Station Master? My ship leaves in less than a quarter cycle."

Titionco rose to her full height of two and a half meters, "Yes, I think that would be the prudent thing to do. I myself don't have much longer before shipping out."

O Prictone let out a small, barely audible whistle and the Coivine rose. "We have more than half a cycle before we must leave but that will give us time to take in more of this station."

The group exited out the wide portal that let on to this large alcove. The corridor they had entered was almost half as wide as a soccer field. Having not been this way before, the Coivine pointed out signs and storefronts to each other as they walked. The time needed to reach the Sub office passed quickly. Harry printed out the necessary instructions and the Gibilt on duty took the sheet along with ones printed out by O Prictone and Titionco. He asked each representative to have their seals scanned by an optics reader. After having done so, they all moved back and allowed themselves to be body scanned by overhead units. Anyone disguised to be someone they were not would be found out at this point. The Gibilt then processed the contracts to have all goods wind up at the storage units designated on each sheet.

This completed the trades. All parties stood back and faced one another so as to have equal viewing of each race. They all raised an appendage toward their fellow traders and at much the same time, they made a set of matching gestures that was considered the universal way of saying goodbye and good luck. Immediately they all turned and walked away from each other as if nothing had ever happened. This too was a time-honored custom among the traders of the galaxy.

Harry headed back to the berthing dock for his ship. He was very pleased with the way things had turned out. He stepped on to a slow moving treadway and moved inward to the fastest one. Within twenty minutes he found himself walking off at the entrance to his ships berth. To one side there was another Sub office. He saw Blicate standing there as if she had been waiting for him.

Harry had been so pleased with his deal that he had forgotten all about her and the deal made for the lower grade Slicate. She still seemed downcast over her misfortune. Harry felt it wise to act sorry for her. "It was honorable for you to seek me out to complete this transaction. I would have understood had you not shown."

"It would seem that honor is all I have left."

Harry printed out the sheet for the low-grade product and included the two boxes of dolls that he still had in storage. He could afford to be magnanimous. Both stood to be scanned for record keeping sake and the deal was finalized.

Blicate looked at the trade sheet and smiled when she saw the listing for the dolls. "How very generous of you. Of course, it wasn't as good as the deal I just got for my organics."

"You mean you actually found someone to take them off your hands?"

"Well, to be truthful, I had brokered them this morning. Had you actually taken them at the bar, it would have been most embarrassing to explain. Fortunately things worked out as planned and I have already dispatched an agent to my home world with an order for first quality gems... in quantity."

For Harry, it took a moment for the implications to set in. "My return date is not exactly set in stone. I could be back as quickly as twenty cycles with orders to turn my product and return within two days."

"I am aware of the fact that it takes at least twenty cycles for you to return to Earth and then come back. It will only take my agent nineteen cycles to return."

"It may take as many as thirty cycles for me to return. There could be problems with the mining operations."

"My agent has been instructed to wait for as long as it takes. Of course, if I don't return within forty cycles, he will initiate an investigation."

"Return? From where?" said Harry while subconsciously starting to fidget about.

"Why, from Earth of course. I have never been there and am so looking forward to visiting all of the famous tourist stops."

"You have already booked passage on this ship?"

"No, I haven't. Consequently, I will not need a room if I am traveling with someone. An acquaintance of mine was kind enough to upgrade your accommodations so that two can be very comfortable in your room."

"I don't have to take you along."

"No, you don't. Needless to say, if you don't return with Grade One Slicate, in quantity, in the next thirty cycles, I will be forced to commence actions for fraud."

"I really don't see where that would be..."

She raised her hand to halt him. "Let us look at the possibilities. If you fail to return, you will be brought up on charges of fraud. That would cost you your seal. No more trading for you. Next option: you return without the contracted quantities and lose all your profit. My guess is that you would have to claim clemency in trade court. This would allow an arbitrator to redefine or break the contract. You would not be able to trade in the mean time. I of course would use all my means of delaying the settlement; possibly fifty to sixty cycles. Even if you did well on this deal, would you have enough to tough out the wait? The arbitrator might even fine you for knowingly making a deal you couldn't keep. Could you afford that."

Harry knew he was on the wrong end of this 'gotcha'. Still he held out hope. "Why do I get the impression there could be a happy ending to all this."

"Happiness is a matter of viewpoint. From my point of view, I see us traveling to Earth. I see you taking me to all the sights. For your trouble, I see me reducing your volume schedule for the next two runs to your allowable quota. I also see me canceling the contract after that. Provided you show me around in style and I have a good time on this trip."

"I see what you mean, my point of view is beginning to change. Shall we board now? Oh, what about your luggage?"

"I tipped a porter rather handsomely to take them to our room."

"I see there is a lot that I can learn from you."

"I'm sure we will learn a lot about each other."

If the look in her eye hadn't explained that comment the room key handed him sure did. It was the honeymoon suit. Aside from the setting of the ears and the hairline, there was only one other discerning feature of the two races. Not that it upset Harry too much. When the right time came, he would just have to figure out what to do with her long, pointed tail.