Equitable Trade
20 May 2024Xochitl Khae
Equitable Trade
Colonia Region
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Tara and the crew found a table near the bar as Ryuko walked up to the human bartender, who was wiping his hands with a bar towel and eyeing him with a curious gaze.
“What will it be?” the bartender asked, setting the towel on the bar.
Ryuko leaned on the bar, his eyes scanning down from one end to the other. “What do you have on the bottom shelf?”
The bartender placed his hands on the bar, looking Ryuko in the eyes. “That depends. Are you buying, selling, or trading?”
Ryuko pointed to the top shelf as the bartender reached down, placing two glasses on the bar before turning to reach up and bring down a flask. As he poured the jeweled liquid into each of the glasses, Ryuko tapped the top of the bar with his fingertip. “I have a fair amount of all the above, but of a specific quality that is more useful next door than here, and which your patrons need a plentiful supply of. There are also other items in quantity that are easy for you to move. Your location makes it ideal for me to stop only here, to relinquish those items, while maintaining a nearby presence for those same patrons to find the data and goods they need for engineering their gear.”
“Name’s Beau,” the bartender said, tossing back the glass in one long swallow before putting the empty down on the bar to pour himself another. “And this quantity and quality is where exactly?”
Ryuko sipped on his own drink, feeling the smooth burn of the liquid in his mouth and on its descent down. “I have a capital asset in an uninhabited system, less than 8 light-years distant. Her bartender is the reason I am here. Between the two of you, you each stand to make a large profit.”
A toothy smile appeared on Beau’s face as he brought his glass up to his lips. “Imagine you will have your own share of that, eh?”
Ryuko brought his own glass up, saluting with it before downing its contents. “None of us work for free.”
Beau laughed as both men slammed their empty glasses down on the bar.
“Leave me the bartender’s name and contact information, and feel free to empty anything you may currently have in your holds.”
Tara turned her head to look at their trainee crew, who had been watching the interaction play out. “Learn this lesson well. That is a real pirate. Setting the stage and price, and not a drop of blood spilled.”
Ryuko finished his business with the bartender, giving his group a courtesy nod as he walked past, exiting the establishment. By the time Tara and the group caught up with him, he was already finalizing the offloading of the battle weapon cargo, he had liberated from a cargo ship near the system’s navigational beacon.
***
The traffic around Zaria’s carrier increased within the hour of Ryuko’s visit with the bartender, as patrons seeking data and goods, required by engineers to modify their suits and weaponry, were in high demand. A large Imperial Cutter kept itself outside of the traffic pattern, watching the line of ships, each formed up, awaiting their turn to land and make their way to the ship’s bar to see what remained of the offered bounty.
Zaria herself maintained a presence outside of the bar, with plentiful security personnel stationed throughout the corridors to ensure order was maintained. The holographic image of a man was displayed above her forearm communicator.
“Your pirate appears to have done well for himself,” the man said with an amused look on his face.
“He has profited us two hundred million credits thus far. Both the bartender and the black marketeer are reporting a significant drop in their stocks due to the high volume of purchases.”
The man nodded, looking off-screen momentarily. “Your recent report was curious. He has been busying himself with raiding and scavenging, preferring to render the rival pirate personnel in his path unconscious versus eliminating them.”
“To quip one of his quotes to his trainees, 'no prey, no profit, but dead prey makes no future profit.'”
The man chuckled, nodding his head in understanding. “He clearly has a head for this business, but that is not surprising considering his past. What news of the biomorph?”
“She has been selecting their prospects, advising on which would be best to service based on a statistical model she has made of the system and its assets. To date, she has been on the mark.”
“There is a concern with her evolutionary development becoming too influenced by that world. There should be a progressive balance to ensure her positive development.”
Zaria pulled out her data tablet from a side pocket on her suit, tapping its screen several times. “There may be an equitable solution to this issue. Upon your landing, we can go over the preliminaries and adjust.”
The man’s image nodded as his holographic image vanished. A low growling snoring noise emanated from behind him.