Most of the businesses April was walking past here on the full G level, were large corporations like Mitsubishi itself. There was an office for SC/Rutan, Merck and Sony-Sun. There was also a few small shops that specialized in construction and services such accounting and Earth-side legal representation. She had noticed an office being remodeled the last few days behind a construction curtain, separating it from the corridor and this morning she was surprised to see it was now three separate tiny stores, each with a distinct decor and style. The first was done in a nautical motif, with lots of rope and a heavily carved wooden sign that proclaimed: Home Chandlery and Provision Co. She stopped, staring in the door unbelieving. There was a planked wood floor, with the individual boards pegged down with dowels, which ran to a low counter covered with carpeting, with a pair of heavy wooden chairs on the customer side and a tall wooden stool on the other. A couple flat screens scrolled pictures of the goods available and a sign gave their net address and invited - "Search our catalog and sign up for automatic updates and sales." The vertical sample bins behind the clerk's space were labeled. Chocolates and Candies - Coffees and Teas - Intoxicants and Spices - Fine Frozen Provisions - Fresh Fruits and Vegetables - Scents and Cosmetics - Pharmaceuticals - Weapons and Munitions - Defensive and Security Systems - Custom and Cut Dry Goods - Hard Wares and Materials – Domestic Appliances - IF YOU DON"T SEE IT WE"LL GET IT! - A big sign said above it all.
"Come in, come in, dear. Nobody else can come in while you're standing in the door." The fellow inviting her was sitting on the carpeted counter, eschewing the stool behind. His feet were well short of the floor and she realized with a start that he was a very small person. "You are the first person to step in my door. My very first walk-in even if you don't find something to become my first customer. But I will find something that you absolutely can't live without. If I can't, by damn, I'll find something you want to sell me! What you got to horse trade? I'm all fired up and ready to do some deals today."
April laughed at the good natured spiel and decided to stay a minute and see if she could give a little of it back. She skipped the chair and also sat on the broad counter cross legged. To do that she had to tilt the dagger in the front of her sash over so it didn't poke her and swept the muzzle of her laser back on her left so it didn't ride up off the counter.
"Ah, I've misjudged already. A person can't sit in those arm chairs easily, with weapons hanging. I'll have to see to that today. I'm Zach Bern, proprietor. I was just about to have a coffee, would you like to join me? It's of our own stock and I'd welcome your opinion of it."
"Please, that would be nice, but I'm on my way to breakfast and hungry, so I'll stay just for a cup and I'm off, though I'm sure I'll be back to this fascinating place."
The fellow looked even smaller, standing to get the coffee, even though the counter with the coffee pot was built to his height. He turned holding two huge white stoneware mugs, with a red logo and lettering that proclaimed his store and its physical address. "Keep the mug please. Drinking from a plastic mug seems so uncivilized to me. That's one of my goals to accomplish here, to bring a few more of those things to Home, that make life a little more enjoyable and comfortable. You're probably station born aren't you?" he inquired.
"Yes, but I've been Earthside to Australia and Hawaii and I go frequently to other stations. In fact I make ISSII and New Las Vegas at least monthly." She stopped and smelled the coffee carefully and took a long sip.
"Well? What do you think? Is that better than what you get in the cafeteria?" His face said he knew it was much better. The cafeteria coffee was from liquid concentrate and had a bit of a bite, almost a French Roast and cheap enough to offer the free refills everyone demanded.
"Oh yes. It's much better than the food service. I'm sure you'll sell a lot of it. Is it what you would call your house blend?"
"That's a fair description," he agreed, looking disappointed she didn't praise it more. "Are you a connoisseur of coffees?" he inquired, with perhaps a little skepticism.
"I have a friend Sylvia Anderson who invites me to dinner occasionally. I'm afraid she has spoiled me, by exposing me to all sorts of good things at her table."
"Do you know what she likes to serve? I appreciate fine coffee myself. But I'm limited of course in what I will offer commercially, by the price I think the market will bear."
"Sylvia served us a Jamaican coffee, but when I priced it I wasn't willing to pay what they wanted it's true. It was about six hundred North American dollars a kilo. I bought a nice Kona estate bean, that tastes as good to me and only cost four hundred a kilo, if you'll buy a twenty five kilo bag of green beans. That's what I make at home and what we brew on board working."
"You're talking about on board ship when you make these trips to the other stations? If you're responsible for other supplies, please consider if my new establishment can be of any assistance. I have to build a new network of contacts and customers here. But all that is just detail if I have what you need. Do you have a job title?"
April laughed and offered her hand. "I'm April Lewis. In a family business we don't have many labels. My brother is the primary owner and I'm the secondary technically, but we don't say President and Vice President. The only title that means anything is when we undock. I'm Master of the Armed Merchant Happy Lewis."
His eyebrows went up at that. "You mean you're the Captain?"
He accepted her hand and gave it a very gentle squeeze, not really a shake.
"Like this," she said and showed him the custom of touching finger tips to palm. That's how spacers do."
He blushed deeply, surprising her.
"That's" - she hesitated, searching for a word and rejected vulgar - "naughty where you were raised?"
He nodded embarrassed. "But if that's the custom here I'll adapt it. It'll just take a while to untrain my social reflexes."
"It were a military vessel I suppose you'd say Captain. The North Americans do. But it gets confusing because there is a rank of Captain but anyone of any rank is the Captain when they have overall command of a vessel. We don't need all that confusion, so we just say Master."
She had been reading the scrolling screens as they talked, but what had caught her eye was gone. "Shop," she asked, "please show the list of specials again." It ignored her, so he quickly edited it.
"Store, accept inputs for sign requests addressed to shop from any voice. Exclude price change, erasures, shut off and inventory information. Show specials."
The thin screen showed a short list -
Handmade Hungarian Apple Strudel with Almonds/Golden Raisins, guaranteed. 85.00 $NA
Fresh Hawaiian Pineapple - Ripe, whole and guaranteed. 32.00 $NA
Tree Ripe Washington Peach - Large and guaranteed. 6.00@ / 6 FOR 30.00 $NA
Fine Macedonian Milk Chocolate - 1 Kilogram - guaranteed. 11.00 $NA
Sig-Sauer 6mm caseless right handed in titanium with accessories: 3,214.00 $NA*
Rhineman - Howe African Influenza serum genotyped and dated. 35cc- 7 doses - 1,400 $NA*
Intel Pad-on-a-Chip Com multi-compatible with spex and case - 48.00 $NA
Cannabis Caribbean mix potency graded foil pack 200 grams guaranteed. 200.00 $NA *
Pipe tobacco cherry in tin potency graded 200 grams guaranteed. 370.00 $NA *
* Items requiring certification of majority and/or user agreement to respect environmental controls for common cubic and employment restrictions. Hazard warnings test/pass and waiver of liability mandatory. We reserve the right to refuse our trade to anyone for any reason.
"I'd like to send the six peach package and a pineapple to a friend as a gift. Do I have to hire a courier service, or can you deliver?"
"I'll have an automated cart soon, but for a few days I'll be making deliveries in person, at the end of the day if that's OK. I need to learn my way around and I'm hoping to meet my customers in person."
"OK, I'd like it delivered to Sylvia Anderson with a note just saying, ‘Enjoy - April'. You'll fi
nd them on E ring, deck seventeen. You can leave it with anyone there." She motioned with her pad she was ready to pay and he pointed out the secure port by the counter.
"The coffee lady, right?"
"Yes the same. You prefer USNA dollars?"
"Or EuroMarks, makes no difference. I'd like to meet her anyway, maybe she'll receive them. Do you want to see the goods first?"
"No I probably couldn't judge them anyway, but she'll give me an honest appraisal. Ripe peaches are something she mentioned once she misses." She beamed the money to him.
"Ok, I appreciate the handshake lesson too. Thanks"
"Hey, I'm starved. Sorry but I have to get to breakfast. Thanks for the coffee Zach."
April was delayed so long with Zach she was determined to not stop in the other stores. She'd just look them over in passing. The next shop was very conservative. Glass windows on each side of a glass door all framed out in a dark reddish wood. The Gold foil sign in the right window said: - Private Bank of Home - in an arch and all their financial services listed below it. So much for being first, with her suggestion to Jeff.
The inside didn't have any counters or teller windows, just a single Earth style desk and chairs, on a dark blue carpet with little yellow diamonds in it. The fellow working didn't look up as she passed. There was an open metal work door of vines and leaves going in the back room with a aged copper patina. But the massive hinges belied the delicate look of the grill work. What did catch her eye was in the left window there was another gilt sign, with a logo she wasn't familiar with at all. It was three golden globes suspended like cherries on their stems. The sign said Pawn Broker - Loans against Collateral - Valuables Bought and Sold.
That was new to her, she'd never seen a pawn shop, but she kept walking. The last shop in the newly remodeled stretch was much less conservative. It was a bright modern office, with an oatmeal colored carpet and a open bottom spacer style desk. The pedestal mounted screens on the desk could be moved around and there was a woman sitting working with an actual keyboard, instead of voice. She was in the sort of powered chair with foot rests, that changed shape under you constantly so you didn't get cramped up, or get a blood clot from sitting for hours.
There was a big white mug on her desk with red lettering, just like the one April was carrying. Apparently Zach made an early call here on his new neighbors. There was a comfortable waiting area and a couple thin see-through screens hanging in the window. The business name was a header on the screen, We Can Do It - Staffing and Personnel - Temp and Permanent. The bigger screen had a heading, - Positions - and a string of paragraphs describing them scrolled underneath, about as fast as you could comfortably read them. Despite her resolve, April hesitated to read a few.
Live in companion - household aide and companion for physically limited male. Light cleaning and personal assistance. Medical background helpful. Flexible schedule with vacations and retirement benefits by inheritance. No zivies or stinks. Private room, shared bath, small pet welcome. 60% gravity. Full English literacy a must. M/F, Gene Mod' and citizenship = Opp.
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Aerospace frame mechanic - Fabricating exp', some simple design skills. Multi-composite laying and molding. Vacuum welding and suited work . Lunar travel required. Weapons board watch exp' a plus. Boeing cert' a plus. Japanese or Tongan a plus. NO continuing USNA citizen status.
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Nanomechanical Design - Long term integration program to support gene mod variations. Biological exp' / Medical exp' / MD a plus. Italian or Chinese a plus. Frequent Earth travel required. Stock options. Substantial employee discounts. A contracted position. Verifiable ID.
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Private Security/Shuttle - Plainclothes, good pay and bonus program. Ability to operate independently. Proficiency with zero G and/or small arms a plus. Earth and Lunar travel. Mars possible. Verifiable identity and history to birth. Public Eye worn on duty. Personal integrity foremost. Japanese and golf skills a plus. No unresolved military or legal obligations. Approx. 8 duty days a month. Use of company condo on Tonga with personal locker for layovers. Use of company country club and boat. Per Diem for off planet duty. Must share genome for security purposes. Suit exp' a plus. Military/police exp' a plus. M/F, Gene mod. = opportunity.
The lady at the desk had glanced at her, when she first was mesmerized by the screen and went back to her work. April tore herself away and continued down the corridor strangely excited by the changes. Home was becoming more like a big city than a secluded village. Like most young people, that seemed much more interesting to her.
Chapter 5
By the time she got to the cafeteria it was past the rush. There were a half dozen people loitering over their coffee and watching the wall screen on which someone had put on a concert, listening on their spex. The icon in the corner said -LIVE- and wherever it was on Earth it was night. Wanda was working the serving line and was still smiling.
April had conducted a guerrilla campaign of trying to jolly Wanda for the last year to no avail. The woman was in a perpetual bad mood. Then last month she walked in one morning and Wanda turned around smiling and said, "Good morning Honey. My, you look pretty today. What would you like this morning? We got some fresh Raspberries in, if that sounds good." April almost turned and ran out the door, wary it was a trick. Wanda smiling was kind of scary. It seemed almost unnatural. April checked over the pocket - Yup, stitching still spelled out Wanda. The next day, as soon as she saw Ruby she inquired. "Uh - Ruby, has something happened with Wanda? I was in yesterday and she was acting strangely."
Ruby laughed and tried to act innocent but couldn't fake it. "Oh, April, how can I explain? You told me you kids take that med. Keeps you from bonding. From getting all obsessed with some big hunk of a man. Well Wanda doesn't do any anti-bonding med. She met a fine looking man who came through the line one morning and mostly they don't know anyone else is on board with them now. She was so taken with him she was going out to his table and topping his coffee off in order to chat him up"
April was incredulous. "Wanda?" she asked.
"They're both head over heels in love and so tickled with each other so you'd think she's sixteen. And they like it just fine like that. Aren't you happy for her though?"
"You're right, I don't have a lot of experience with that, Haven't even been sixteen yet myself, don't forget," she reminded Ruby, after the remark about age that rankled a bit, "but if it makes her that happy, who am I to knock it, if that's what she wants. I have a lot of other things to do right now myself. As long as he's a good guy. You figure he's OK?"
"Honey, they don't let many real creeps sneak through up here, but he seems real nice, maybe just a little nerdy. Shy and smart. He's an economist of all things. Wears a brush cut and has a face full of freckles like you. Real skinny too. How long do you think that'll last?"
They both laughed at that. Dating a cook could be hazardous to your waistline.
That was a month ago. Wanda didn't seem to be losing her glow at all. Then April saw the ring.
"Whoa," April exclaimed, throwing up a hand to shield her eyes. "I'm blinded. That rock throws a glare that's dangerous. How about dimming the lights a little?"
"How you do go on," Wanda tried to pout through a smile. It didn't work well. "I had to keep Harold from buying a silly thing even bigger than this, that I would have been bumping all the time and he couldn't afford. Men are just not practical at all. It's the thought that counts, not how many carats it weighs."
"Well that pebble says a lot about his thoughts. When are you looking to get married?"
"He wanted to do it right away, after he only knew me a month. I've seen too many ru
sh into it and be sorry. I told him after he's been here six months he'll have leave due and if he still wants to marry we'll go down together and make our leave a honeymoon. He already made the reservations to drop on Tonga and we'll visit Australia and lift back through NLV before coming home." Despite her demands they wait, she didn't seem too worried he'd change his mind.
"Congratulations. I'm happy for you. So you will be coming back and still be here?" she indicated the cafeteria with a look around.
"Oh sure, I have seniority built up and he's just starting with the Bank. I wouldn't give up the security and we can use the money. Besides I love my job."
April couldn't believe the change. She was always sure Wanda hated being here.
It tickled her to see the effect wasn't wearing off. She liked the new Wanda. She assembled a serious breakfast being way past her normal time, with three kinds of meat and a plate of eggs, with cheese grits and a stack of buckwheat pancakes. That should hold her two or three hours. She grabbed a handful of butter slices and a couple pouches of syrup.
She filled up her new mug, which held about twice as much as a cafeteria cup. It was so heavy it made the whole tray heavier. When she turned for the tables Jerry Ames was sitting off to the back, like she liked to do, but she didn't aim for him, just waited to see if he wanted company. She didn't want to make a pest of herself, where people couldn't get away. But when he looked up, he did indicate the seat opposite him if she wanted. She made her way over, but asked him, "Mind if I sit beside you instead? I like to people-watch."
"No, not at all. If you see me here you're welcome to join me. But if you don't, I won't assume you're mad at me or anything. Sometime you might just not feel like company. I'm flexible."
April 2: Down to Earth Page 5