Part 8 (1/2)
”I'm fully aware of my limitations. I'd never be allowed on any temple floor, much less on an altar, but I don't expect that. I dance for my own pleasure and well-being.”
”You can perform for us some day,” Van Rycke promised.
Rael flushed scarlet. ”You're not a tamed audience! And I know you all . . .”
Jellico laughed, but he draped a surprisingly comforting arm around her shoulders. ”Power down, Doctor. Our good Cargo-Master's only running you over the jets. Ibis dancing's potentially too potent a force for disruption to be loosed in the confines of a stars.h.i.+p. Rest a.s.sured that you'll be allowed to continue exercising to your heart's content in complete privacy.”
The four s.p.a.cers moved into that part of the huge market where the gems and jewelry were sold.
Here the difference between the Solar Queen and the Roving Star, the chasm between the credits each stars.h.i.+p had at her disposal, between the routes they flew, were made clearly apparent. The really good pieces, finished or unset, coming for sale on Canuche of Halio were offered in the major enclosed facilities, not in this open field, yet they could not give the top line of even what was on display of the mounted stones more than a pa.s.sing glance.
Miceal's expression darkened as he continued to watch the Medic. Inevitably, her eyes went to the best pieces, lingered on the really good ones. She knew they were beyond the means of her party and said nothing, but the way she looked at them was sufficient. It was not hard to imagine her disappointment. Teague Cofort would have gone for those choices. s.p.a.ce, Deke Tatarcoff probably could have picked up a couple or three of them. So could the Queen, he thought bitterly. Of course, then they would have nothing left with which to lay in a Trade store ...
He stopped himself with a mental oath. What was he doing? Was this accursed woman driving him to feel ashamed of his own stars.h.i.+p?
Jellico's mood improved again once they left the highpriced jewelry behind and found themselves surrounded by stalls stocking goods within their range.
He had no time for brooding then. The Solar Queen had almost no jewelry left, and these mid-line goods, particularly the numerous beads, were of intense interest to her Captain.
Now that she was free to act, Rael Cofort shone. She unerringly seized upon the beautifully marked agates, the oddly colored sodalite strand whose dark lavender shade might be a fault but was also strikingly attractive. She found the three unpitted strings in a bundle of otherwise poor garnets, and she spotted uniquely shaped beads and strange clasps to add distinction to the Queen's growing collection of interesting if relatively uncostly trade material.
Van Rycke glowed with satisfaction. Cofort was performing exactly as he had seen her do in that other market but with the grand difference that on this occasion she was working for the Solar Queen, not against her.
He permitted her to do only the choosing. Although each individual piece cost little, the total of their gem and mineral purchases would be significant. This was Queen business, and he was not about to turn the crucial bargaining over to any temporary hand.
Dane watched him with the awe of a knowledgeable beginner for a superb master in his craft, and with pleasure.
Someday, he would have a similar post and would perform, he hoped, with skill equal to that of his chief.
Jellico and Cofort's impressions might be less precisely tuned, but they were no less powerful. Both were veterans in Trade and recognized an ability so well honed that it transcended the professional to move into the realm of art.
Once the Cargo-Master was satisfied that they had secured everything they needed or wanted that the Queen could afford, he indicated that they should return to the freighter with their treasures. All four of them were burdened with a number of fairly substantial packages by that time. The cloth, of course, would be delivered to the s.h.i.+p, but when one purchased gems and minerals, he took care to carry them away with him.
”Could we at least go by the loose stones?” the Medic asked wistfully.
”If you like,” Jellico replied. ”I thought you agreed with Van that we wouldn't take any.”
”Aye. This is for me. I just want to look.”
”The Roving Star deals heavily in them,” Van Rycke recalled.
She nodded. ”We do our own setting, you see. Our Steward's a master jeweler. - He's taken prizes from some of the biggest guilds in the ultrasystem. - He mounts what we bring to him, both for Trade and for the rest of us personally. All we have to do is supply the materials, and he produces individual works of art. I've gotten in the habit of checking out anything that might conceivably be of interest as a result.”
”It can't hurt,” the Cargo-Master said. He touched one of the packages he carried. ”This local stuff's nice. I wouldn't object to having a few loose stones on hand.”
That part of the big market given over to unmounted gems and the metals used to complement them was not extensive, and there was almost no variety in the type of jewels offered. Canuchean amethysts and red garnets made up more than 90 percent of the stock. Most of the rest consisted of surplanetary fancy garnets, all of them flawed and none of good color, much to the woman's disappointment.
The remainder were various small, imported semiprecious gems common throughout the ultrasystem. There were no sunstones at all that day.
The Free Traders bought a few stones, fewer than they might have if the quality had been better. All were single specimens. The sets, presorted packets containing from two gems to three dozen or more, they left alone. Most such lots were of very low grade, and they had plenty from which to choose at reasonable cost without having to settle for the patently inferior.
One stand featuring them did catch Cofort's eye. It was a small, uncovered operation specializing in both imported and on-world stones plus a smattering of the more interesting readily available minerals. The array of colors was wonderful and was rendered more striking still by the masterful arrangement the merchant had employed to display his wares.
She picked up several of the clear packets encasing his goods and held them high so that Halio's light might play over the contents before carefully replacing them again.
When she seemed to linger over one lot labeled rose tourmalines, the Canuchean was quick to pick up on her apparent interest.
”Those have better than average color. They go for fifty a carat.”
The s.p.a.cer's arched brows lifted even higher. ”Hedon's Gem Guild wouldn't get that for stellar-quality synthetics, which these are not.”
The man drew himself to the full of his not inconsiderable height. ”If they were stellar quality or anything approaching it; they wouldn't be selling in sets. As for the rest, these tourmalines are natural ...”
”Save it for the locals,” the Medic snapped. ”Preferably the visually handicapped. It's painfully obvious that just about every stone on this table is manufactured. - If you wish to argue the point, Canuche has thoughtfully supplied appraisers to settle such disputes. Their booth's just over there. One of my comrades can fetch-”
”Power down, s.p.a.ce hound. I'm only a salesman, not a gemologist. It's as easy to fool me as anyone else. This stuff looked good to me, and I took it on faith, that's all.”
”Of course,” she responded dryly. She had figured he would back down quickly under that threat. The official appraisers were noted for doing their job, and the penalties for fraud were severe. The merchant might have bluffed his way out of this, but he would then be under close observation for a very long time, which would seriously handicap the questionable enterprise he was running.
”Look, I'll sell at a loss to prove my good intentions. Take what you want for ten a carat.”
”Ten? We do this for a living, too, remember? You got them for a quarter a carat, maybe half for a few of the best. You'll be making a good profit at one credit.”
”One! I won't be able to meet my rent!”
”Stow that debris, my friend. By rights, I shouldn't go higher than three-quarters. Besides, we're only taking a couple of sets as curiosities, one for me, one for my comrades to split. Synthetics like these wouldn't move too well, and I really don't believe your style of doing business deserves the reward of a big order.”
She looked over a number of the sets before selecting two, one containing all rose-colored stones, the other a mixture of rose and green. The gems in both were cut as cabochons rather than with light-firing facets.
After watching carefully while the discomfited merchant weighed her selection, she paid him based upon the scale he had named and, much to his relief, withdrew with her companions.
Cofort caught the way Dane was looking at her and laughed. ”You didn't think I had it in me, Viking?”
He started. That was the nickname some of his more insufferable cla.s.smates back at the Pool had used to taunt him. There was no barb in it now, though. In fact, he rather liked the sound of it... ”Well, you usually come across as a rather quieter individual.”
Her eyes sparkled. ”I wasn't loud back there, either,” she teased.
”Neither are Patrol lasers,” Jellico told her. ”They make their point, too.”
Her manner grew grave again. ”I didn't think Mr. Van Rycke would mind my taking the helm. The sum involved was infinitesimal, and one set is for me. I'll keep the other as well if you really don't want it.”
”Not at all,” replied the Cargo-Master. ”As you said, it's a curiosity.”
”We'll see just how much of a curiosity when we get back to the Queen.”
There was such an air of mystery, of superiority, about her that his eyes narrowed. ”That's where we're heading right now, Doctor Cofort. On all burners.”