Half Share

amazed me was that you picked out Drus Martin’s belts. That was a real find.”

“You found the stones. I think we’re even there. I wish we had another five kilos of those.”

He laughed loudly. “I think we’d have saturated the market here.”

“Maybe but we’re leaving for Betrus tomorrow.”

I pulled out my tablet then and checked the ship statuses. It listed MarDuch as ENR Bink under the status. I slipped the tablet back into my pocket and turned my head to put my nose near my collar so I could smell her scent again and a muffled sound escaped my lips.

Pip patted me on the shoulder in sympathy. “Yeah, I understand, but it’s a small galaxy. You’ll see her again.”

“Thanks, but I was looking at that!”

He turned his head to see where I was looking and made a little sound of his own. “Those are spectacular.”

We hurried over to the booth and started talking to a tiny woman with almond-shaped eyes who introduced herself as Ping Fa Hwa. She had the most amazing collection of prints I had ever seen. I recognized the stylized form from some that I had seen in the gallery at the University of Neris. She had landscapes, birds, seascapes, and even some flowers.

“Did you make all these yourself?” I asked her.

“Oh, no. I am only selling them for our co-op.”

Pip looked at me and started laughing. Ping looked confused until I said, “We’re in a co-op, too. We know what it’s like.”

“What can you tell me about these prints?” Pip asked, his eyes distractedly scanning the brightly colored artworks.

She launched into a detailed sales pitch, so I left Pip to close the deal. I heard enough to learn that the prints were made on a kind of native parchment made from the local linen and cotton. The artists printed the images using a silk screen reproduction and each was a limited edition. She pointed out the small numbers in the bottom corners of each print next to the artist’s signature. Most of the prints were runs of a hundred or less because, she said, the reproduction process eventually degraded the screens. I didn’t know if that was true or not, but it sounded good. It didn’t really matter. The artwork was stunning.

The prices were likewise stunning, and I began to think that the price Sarah got for our shaman-blessed stones was less a miracle of salesmanship and more a factor of the local economy. Still, Pip bought ten prints for a kilocred and Ping slipped them into a large flat envelop of heavy parchment. The whole thing weighed less than a kilo.

As we walked back to pick up the duffel bag of batik fabric, Pip commented, “Of course, if we keep buying things like this, our mass allotments will be moot.”

I laughed.

It was a struggle but we got it all back to the Lois in time for dinner.

***

At dinner we ran into a bunch of people including Brill, Beverly, Diane, Arvid, Mitch, Tabitha, and Sean. It seemed like half the crew was aboard but getting ready to go out. There was a feeling that I had never had as a day worker in the galley. I do not think Pip caught it, but the sense of the flow of time across the watches was almost tangible. Diane was actually on watch and would be stuck on the ship overnight. Francis had already gone. I would relieve Diane in just under twelve stans. The mood was definitely last chance and spirits ran high. As we broke up from dinner, we reached the general consensus to gather at the lock at 20:00 and all head to Jump! together. Even Pip was going.

As we broke up, Brill said, “Well, you guys be careful, okay?”

“What do you mean?” I asked her. “You’ll be there to keep an eye on us, won’t you?”

She shook her head. “I’m bushed. I’m going to stay aboard tonight, I think.”

Behind her Diane was shaking her head in a vigorous no and making pulling motions with her hands. It was all I could do not to laugh.

“Come on, B,” I pleaded. “Just come have a drink and a dance maybe. We’ll have a few laughs and come back early. Pip and I both have morning duty.”

Diane started nodding yes, just as vigorously.

Brill dithered a little but eventually relented. Before she headed out to get changed, I asked, “Oh, could you do me a favor?”

“What? I’m already doing you one just by going!” She smiled when she said it.

“You remember the outfit you wore up to Chez Henri’s? The red jacket with the tab collars? Black slacks?”

“Of course, I don’t have that many clothes.”

“Wear that.”

“Isn’t that kinda dressy for a few drinks at Jump?” Her eyes narrowed.

I shook my head. “No, I don’t think so. Do you think so, Diane?”

Diane piped up with, “No, I think it would be perfect.”

Brill laughed at the obviousness of our behavior and waved over her shoulder as she set off to change.

At 20:00 she showed up in the red jacket and she still looked like a Valkyrie to me.

We all checked out together which must have driven David ben Dour crazy as he tried to process the group of us all at once. Brill, Bev, and I stepped out of the lock and waited for the rest to get checked out.

Bev just shook her head and snickered softly. “I don’t remember the last time this many of us went out at once.”

“You know what it is?” Brill said to Bev over my head.

“What?”

“Him.” She jerked a thumb in my direction. “They wanna see what he does next.”

I held up my hands in surrender. “Whoa! I got the duty in the morning. I’m just going for a couple of drinks and then I’m coming home and going to bed.”

Brill made one of her mmm-hmm sounds.

Beverly just grinned at nothing in particular.

I looked up at Brill and realized she did not have a necklace on. Her throat and upper chest were spectacular on their own, but I thought it could use something to focus attention. I reached back and untied the leather thong and stripped off my green stone.

“Come down here!” I told her.

Bev and I were both astonished when she did just that, leaning down so I could tie the thong around her neck. It took me a couple of tries, but I finally got it where I thought it would do the most good.

“Is this one of the stones you got on Margary?” she asked, reaching up to touch it with her fingertips.

“Yup,” I said. It was about all I could say because it was stunning. The rawness of the leather and the simplicity of the green stone centered just below her collarbone was like a target. The green stone and the red jacket played off each other making each color look just that little bit richer for being together.

“It’s still warm. “You’ve been wearing it all day?”

“Yeah,” I said.

Bev winked at me.

Finally everybody got off the ship and we headed for the lift. Bev and I took up station on either side of Brill. Bev in her leathers, looked like she would eat the next three men alive and they would love every bite. Brill had on her red jacket, while I sported my pink shirt and olive coat. We formed up in a kind of parade formation with some of the crew ahead and some behind. I spotted Rebecca Saltzman out front walking with Mitch Fitzroy. I never appreciated Rebecca’s ability to really slink. The genetic legacy of heavy-G did not seem to bother her stride one bit and I appreciated it in detail for several moments. I looked over my shoulder and saw Tabitha had her own little escort flotilla bringing up the rear with Sean on one side and Arvid on the other. All three of them looked like they were locked and loaded. Whoever that trio tangoed with was in for a hell of a dance. I started counting heads and realized we had almost half the crew in that one group.