Chapter 8
One of the reasons she was enjoying being on-planet, Fiona realized, was the distances.
Larga Ways wasn’t tiny, but she knew every inch of it by now.
The journey to the light industrial area on the outskirts of Distani took at least a half hour using the small runner Natta had hired.
They decided to all go together as a group and then Natta would split up from them before they entered the market, watching from a distance as usual.
It was obviously a popular place, because they had to park the runner a ten minute walk from the entrance, and Natta disappeared long before they reached the warehouse that was hosting the market.
“We’ll cover more ground if you and I split up,” Fiona suggested to Trayla as she took in the massive double doors to what was a huge warehouse—big enough to be luxurious by Larga Ways standards.
Trayla shook her head. “It’s too busy. Look how many people are in there. If you need help, I might not be able to get to you quickly enough.”
It was very crowded, so Fiona didn’t argue. She didn’t think anyone knew she was here, so she wasn’t really in any danger, but she would play by the rules.
Once they were inside, the noise was a low hum.
Not nearly as bad as she’d feared. The Balcoans weren’t loud people and their voice pitch was on the quiet side.
They were a similar height to Fee, so she didn’t feel towered over, either, which she liked.
It was Trayla and Natta who stood out, head and shoulders above most of the shoppers, although there were enough Grih in the crowd that they didn’t look too out of place.
“Eazi,” she said, tapping into their comm channel. “I think you need to give Paxe access to my lens feed.” She adjusted her shirt to make sure the tiny lens that was worked into the upper left shoulder was unobstructed. “There are things in here he might be interested in.”
“From the looks of it, me, too.” Eazi’s tone was excited.
“You, too,” she agreed with a smile. She thought the items for sale might be a good indicator of who to talk to about any possible items from the Grimwell Materials factory.
If they were selling parts that were similar to the ones that were consistently not being delivered to Paxe on Larga Ways, she could at the very least find out who was producing such things.
“That looks like the brackets we were promised last month,” Paxe said as she approached a long table covered in miscellaneous metal items. “The large ones on your right.”
Fiona reached out and lifted one up, then had to stiffen her arm to keep a hold of it. It was heavier than it looked.
“What do you think?” she asked, looking over her shoulder as if she were talking to Trayla.
The Grihan walked closer, head tilted. “What’s it for?” she asked.
“Those might be the actual brackets.” Paxe’s voice was soft with outrage. “The dimensions are the same.”
“Can I help you?” The Balcoan behind the table had wandered over and was eyeing her with interest. His gaze jumped from her to Trayla, as if noticing the difference in their height.
“I’m building something at the moment, and I think these might work,” Fiona said. “How much are they?”
He mentioned an amount that, while high, Fiona was sure was probably quite reasonable for the materials used and the precision needed in the construction.
“That’s half what they were asking us to pay,” Eazi said. He was always very aware of the costs. It was why the way station had never done as well financially as it was doing right now.
“Well,” Fiona set it down. “That’s a lot . . .”
“I’ll take off ten percent if you buy more than one,” the trader bargained.
“That’s the thing . . . I’d like to take all the ones this size,” Fiona said. “But that’ll come to—” She stopped to do the math in her head.
“I can do you a deal for all of them.” The trader tried to pretend nonchalance. “But at this price, you’ll have to pay now and take them now.”
“I think we can manage that,” Trayla said. “There’s a service my company uses. I think they’re available to freelance. They pick up heavier items and deliver.” She stepped away, touching her ear piece as she began talking softly.
Fiona guessed she was calling Natta.
That was confirmed when Eazi chimed in. “Natta needs a small hover cart. I’m going to co-opt one for him.”
Trayla turned back with a broad smile. “My courier says he can be here in half an hour.”
“Great. Let’s stack them.” Fiona began taking the brackets off the table and putting them to one side. “Do you make these yourself?” she asked the trader.
“Oh, no. This is part of a lot that was auctioned off a couple of weeks ago from a factory that was closing down.” The trader waved at the table. “About a quarter of the items on the table are from that same deal.”
“I’ll get the admiral to send some embassy staff and maybe a few more spies to come buy the rest of the items,” Eazi said. “The seller might get suspicious if you buy any more.”
He definitely would. And she didn’t want to attract unwanted attention to the items, either. If they were meant for Paxe, she wanted all the items to go to him.
She looked around casually as she and Trayla finished stacking the brackets, but no one seemed to be paying them any mind.
She lifted one of the other strangely-shaped pieces of metal. “Is this from the same company?” she asked.
“That’s another of my parts,” Paxe hissed in her ear. “Make sure someone gets that, Eazi.”
“The company that made these is out of business now,” the trader said.
“But you’re welcome to keep coming back here if those brackets work out for you, because I successfully bid on most of their inventory when they closed.
A few other traders got a couple of consignments, but I got the bulk of it. ”
“I’ll definitely be back, then.” Fiona smiled. “What a lucky find. Are you always set up here at the market or do you have a business you trade out of, as well?”
The trader shook his head. “I have a storage warehouse, but I only sell out of this warehouse. Unfortunately we get assigned new places in the market each week. It’s supposed to help everyone by forcing buyers to walk around the whole place.” He made a face. “Just look out for my sign to find me.”
Fiona turned to the banner over the table. “I’ll be sure to. Now, let’s sort out payment.”
Natta arrived moments after the transfer went through, and she and Trayla pretended to introduce themselves to him. He was towing something that looked like a luggage hover from the space port behind him, and he loaded the brackets up, told them he had the delivery address, and hustled off.
Fiona waved at the trader a final time and then she and Trayla wandered off to grab something to eat and drink.
“What’s going on?” Trayla asked when they each had a cup of grinabo and a snack, and were tucked out of the way in a corner of the warehouse. “Why did you want those brackets?”
“It looks like some of the things Paxe was waiting for are being sold to the general public here in this warehouse. I’m not sure why they weren’t delivered, because the price I got those brackets for was less than the price Paxe was being asked to pay.
But the other question is, how much has already been sold and has disappeared into Distani? ”
“I don’t even want to think about it.” Paxe’s voice came through her ear piece.
“So the Grimwell Materials factory is around here somewhere?” Trayla asked. “Or do you believe the seller that it’s closed down?”
“Eazi will find out. If he bought the stuff from an auctioneer, we should get the details, and if he’s lying about that, Eazi has his company information. We can do some digging if necessary.”
“And what about the other items on the table? Are they also things Paxe was waiting for?” Trayla asked.
“Apparently. Eazi’s going to ask the admiral to send some embassy staff and some other spies to wander through and buy them up.” Fiona hoped the trader didn’t start to wonder why his table was suddenly so popular.
She threw her empty cup and bowl into the recycle unit, waited for Trayla to do the same, and they began to move through the rest of the market.
There was furniture, some of which they both admired very sincerely, as well as appliances that were slightly damaged, some beautiful rugs, and then table upon table of more specialized equipment.
Fiona kept stopping to look at what was on display, trying to figure out what use they might have, as well as giving Paxe and Eazi a good look at what was available.
There were a few things of interest, small enough for Fiona and Trayla to carry themselves, but eventually they’d visited every corner of the massive space, and headed back outside.
Natta was standing near the road with his back to them. There were plenty of people around, walking to their runners, moving toward the warehouse, but Natta was looking to his right, as if watching someone.
The luggage hover was gone, which wasn’t surprising because it had been nearly an hour since he’d come in to the warehouse and taken the brackets away.
Fee tapped her ear to connect with Eazi. “You’ve got the brackets?”
“Yes, I had a courier meet Natta near the warehouse and they’ve already delivered them to the port.
I’m having them loaded onto a small cargo freighter and Paxe should have them in a few hours,” Eazi answered.
“I’ll get the same courier to pick up the small things you and Trayla bought when you get back to the rental. ”
“That’s fine.” Fee was watching Natta as she spoke, and she narrowed her eyes.
Natta’s body language showed he was fiercely focused, and Fiona tried to work out who exactly he was watching.
“Do you see?” she asked Trayla.
“I see.”
They both began moving a little faster, heading straight for Natta, when suddenly a runner pulled up, and Natta collapsed onto the street, as if he were a rag doll with the strings cut.
There were people nearby who reacted with shock and concern, and two people hopped out of the runner, scooped Natta up between them and loaded him inside.
One of them was talking to the people around them, and Fiona, moving beside Trayla in a full-out sprint, just missed what he was saying before the runner took off.
“That’s our friend. Where are they taking him?” Trayla called out.
“To a medic,” someone said.
The crowd moved on, and Trayla shoved the bag she was carrying at Fee and headed for their runner, parked down the road, at a very fast run.
“Watch them for as long as you can,” she said to Fee over the ear piece.
“Can you follow them?” Fee asked Eazi.
“I got a good look through your lens feed. I think I can lens hop and follow.” Eazi’s voice sounded a little more mechanical than usual.
“Good.” Fee stepped into the street a little way to try to see which way the runner was headed. They went right and were gone, and moments later, Trayla pulled up in the runner.
Fee jumped in and she took off.
“Why did they take him?” Trayla asked.
“Because he took the brackets away,” Fee guessed. “That’s the only thing he’s done that would have drawn attention.”
“Why didn’t they grab us?” Trayla asked. “We bought them.”
“Good question. Maybe it was too risky to do it inside the marketplace and they were going to get to us later?” That made sense because as far as the mysterious ‘they’ knew, Natta was just the transporter.
“Hopefully he plays dumb long enough for us to get to him.” Trayla turned right where Fee indicated, and then leaned back, astonished, her hands held up and palms forward as the runner accelerated and drove itself.
“That you, Eazi?” Fee asked.
“Sorry, yes. It will be easier for me to operate this runner than give you directions.” Eazi didn’t sound sorry at all.
“Where are they going?” Fee asked.
“Toward the port authority. To get the brackets back, do you think?” Eazi asked.
“Why sell them, then, if they didn’t want them bought?” Trayla asked.
“Another good question.” Fee wondered about that, too. “Was someone watching, and they got nervous when I asked about other items?”
Maybe she’d piqued someone’s interest, and not in a good way.
She just hoped whoever it was didn’t hurt Natta until they were able to get him back.