A Starship Called Starsong

Chapter 32

I tapped the one page. "Are there additional bulk prices for the blue and pink if fifty or more crates are purchased?"

They looked a bit surprised, but one responded, "Yes, the price drops by 5%, as it does for all of the other colors. The discount increases with every 50 crates of the same color. We didn't write it down since those two colors are rarer and, thus, more expensive. I have never seen anyone buy more than five crates of those colors at once."

Apparently, he wasn't aware of one supplier five star systems away from here who was willing to pay top dollar for these colors if they were of the highest quality.

I gazed at the pages as I ensured all of the colors we wanted were listed. Starsong had already said the prices were fair, so I just had to place my order. And possibly knock these two men off their chairs in the process...

I nodded. "This looks quite reasonable. Very well. I shall require 100 crates of blue, 100 of pink, 100 of yellow, 100 of grey, 100 of orange, 100 of black, 200 of green, and 50 of the other colors. All in the grade A+ quality."

They just stared at me blankly, as if they suspected that this was some sort of joke. The one man cleared his throat before tentatively responding, "My apologies, but a trading ship would be unable to lift off the docking platform with such a load. This metal is of our finest quality and is extremely heavy."

I smiled reassuringly at the man. "I would not have ordered that quantity if I thought the engines would be unable to handle it. I have a question of my own though, can you two get all of this onto the ship by tomorrow morning?"

They turned to stare at one another with big eyes before the second man spoke to me, "Can you excuse us for a moment?"

I nodded regally. "Certainly."

They went out a side door, most likely to make sure that they could even get the required amount. They would have to pool their resources to be able to fill such an order – and this was why I had wanted to force them to work together. By themselves, neither could have managed it. No single mine could have filled my order either.

This was an enormous order, and undoubtedly, the largest one on this planet for this metal. Starsong's powerful engines were the only reason we could even contemplate it – and he said that even his engines would notice the weight with such a load during take-off. But this load would turn a massive profit...

It took the men five minutes to return. They sat down, and the first man nodded his head once in a quick affirmation. "It can be done, and we can have all of the crates to your loading dock by noon. Will that suffice?"

I smiled. "Perfect. Send the invoice to my Procurement Officer with the divided billing."

I held out my hand, and they each shook it firmly to seal the deal. They didn't linger, making haste to contact their various suppliers and transport trucks to set everything up since they had less than 24 hours to get it to the Cargo Bay. I walked slowly back towards Starsong while trying to refrain from grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

Starsong commented, "That went better than I had hoped. None of the previous quotes I could find showed discounts for anything above 50 crates. The discount for quantities above 100 crates must have been something they added as they tried to outdo one another."

'Huh. I wouldn't doubt it. They are probably quite excited as well. I doubt either of them has ever had such a big sale before.'

"I went through the various port invoices, and the largest order totaled 200 crates."

I gazed in the direction of Starsong; the large ship was docked at the far end of the docking station. 'I didn't think those invoices were open to the public...'

"The firewall on that server is so pitiful that even your old Analyzer could hack it."

'There is nothing wrong with my Analyzer.'

"You haven't even touched it since I gave you that Guide. Your Guide is able to do more than the Analyzer can." The faint note of teasing in his voice let me know that he wasn't serious, even if he was right.

I snorted faintly in amusement. 'I am attached to that Analyzer. It got me through several years of hard work.'

"I suppose you could hang it on your wall as a memento to ages past..."

I chuckled out loud, which earned me a few odd looks from a couple of passing docking station staff. 'And just what would you do if I did hang it on the wall of the Bridge?'

"Bribe the Weapons Officer to jettison it into outer space for some target practice..."

I burst out laughing, very thankful that there were only those two men within hearing distance at the moment. I could only imagine what the two traders would have thought if they saw me laughing by myself...