Real brokers and Fluffy Cats [ Log 2 ]

Karla

I wasn’t much older than Li when Uncle Kim took me in and started to teach me his trade. I always called him 'uncle', even if we weren't related by blood. Everyone in Prosperity Well did, but for me, that word carried a different meaning.

He was a tough broker with a debt as big as his ego and a stack of assets spread throughout his network that let me start my first business when he died a few years later. As far as I knew, he never asked for any favour for looking after me, and in any case, no one would have given him one, yet he took me in and taught me what he knew.

“Stay quiet and observe,” I told Li as we entered the small office of the Trade Council, just as he used to tell me.

I knew from Ahim, who ran a bar in the docks, that the real player was the Mining Union and not these old, bored-looking people who sat in this room. The Union could help me sell our cargo to individual businesses, but paying homage to the figurative position of the Trade Council first would help them maintain their self-imposed image. It was a small gesture that could pay off in the future. This is how real brokers did their job.

They took their time, of course, needing to justify their inflated salaries and the few privileges their position gave them on the station. But in the end, the gifts they asked for were less than I had expected.

When we were finally done, I took Li to one of those fancy garden restaurants where you could have your meal served in a rustic-looking bowl and eat it under a tree while listening to wildlife sounds played from a well-hidden speaker. I guess it was something if you had spent the last six cycles on a piece of junk floating in the thick, greyish clouds down there. After all, they called it hell for a reason.

“What did you learn?”, I asked her.

She was admiring her plate, not wanting to destroy the carefully arranged food.

“It was boring”, she said in the end.

“It was.”

I nodded and took a sip of my drink.

“So why then did they keep us there for so long?”

She shrugged and finally touched her food.

“They had nothing else to do?”

I chuckled.

“Pretty much”

Was teaching her this a good idea? I wasn’t sure if she would even like it, but at least I could give her something that might help her in the future and make myself useful at the same time. After a week in space where I’d felt more like luggage than a crew member, it was a welcome change and gave me the opportunity to spend more time with Li.

She had stayed with me after my accident with the suit, and I’d told her all sorts of nonsense when my mind wasn’t working, and she’d told me about the spacewalk with the power suit we could take when I got better. I deeply wished she had forgotten about them both.

I looked at her and smiled.

“We can buy ore really cheaply here. Where do you think we could sell it?”

She thought for a moment, playing with her food.

“We cannot carry a lot, right?”

I nodded.

“So we could sell what we have to people who cannot afford a full container.”

I smiled. Of course, those were basics, but a surprising number of people tended to ignore them in the search for the perfect deal, forgetting that not losing was more important than winning big.

“Can you read trade codes?”

She shook her head, and I spent another half a shift explaining to her how to interpret the numbers.

“Should we go back? Sis and Sol must be waiting.”

I nodded, and we headed back to the dock. No matter how much money we made on this trip, I didn’t expect El to get a hotel for the night.

Maybe I could get them some nice clothes, I thought, as we passed the shops on our way back. These suits were practical, but… I sighed. I wasn’t sure what they would like or if they even saw a point in wearing clothes that aren't made with functionality in mind. I don’t think I’d ever seen El wearing anything else than a jumpsuit, and I was sure Sol wasn’t any different.

Sol… I still remember how jealous I’d been of her and how much effort she’d put into making me feel welcome despite my hard feelings. A pang of guilt shot through my chest. She’d done what I’d failed to do and had filled the place I left vacant. I would probably have fought anyone who tried to take it from me, but she’d just made space so all of us could fit. I wished I could do something for her, but what?

I stopped in front of one of the shops, looking at the goods on display. I could get her something, but what? And El? Should I get her something too? Li gave me a curious look.

“Do we need something?”, she asked.

“Maybe we could get something… To celebrate our first voyage?”, I said hesitantly.

Li’s eyes brightened, and she pulled me inside.

“What about those?

She pointed to a cat-shaped, fluffy pillow on the shelf, and I sighed. She was probably the only one who would enjoy such a gift, so maybe I could get her one and look for something else for the others. No one said they had to match.

She ignored my look and picked one of them from the shelf.

“Look, he looks like Mr Scoundrel.”

I froze. I must have told her about the plushie on my shelf when my mind didn’t work well. Uncle Kim had given him to me for my birthday. It was the first time someone had given me something like that, and I'd kept him with me ever since. What else had I told her back then? And was that the reason she wanted to get us those pillows?

Suddenly, I lost all the will to argue with her, and we left the shop carrying four fluffy cat-like pillows in our bags.