A Starship Called Starsong

Chapter 46

The gruff-looking older man was sitting by himself at a small table out of the way as he worked on a mobile computer. I walked over and inquired, "Mind if I join you?"

He glanced up. "Doesn't matter to me, just don't break my concentration."

Apparently, his attitude was as gruff as his appearance... I sat down across from him, sipping my tea patiently. Starsong had already warned me that this old-fashioned trader was fussy on who he dealt with and would test anyone who approached him.

He wasn't well-known since he mostly sold his merchandise in online auctions, but he did have some spectacular high-quality gems that the person buying our special metal would also pay top dollar for. This was the type of person I would have to personally meet with each time for trades.

"The auction he is watching is almost over. Ten more minutes, possibly a few more minutes if he wins since he will have to pay."

'Thanks. Mind if I ask what he is bidding on?' To be honest, I was killing time. I knew I had to prove my patience, so waiting while he finished was the easiest way.

"Several crates of mixed and unsorted gems straight from a mine's overflow, mostly Farozian opals with some others mixed in. Most are mid-quality, and he will have his assistant sell them on the open market. He personally checks each crate and pulls out the high-quality stones and gems that slipped into the crates unnoticed. Those are the ones we want, and we have to go through him to get them."

This was going to require a different approach than the previous suppliers. The past suppliers had wanted a sale, and I had taken great delight in making their jaws drop. That was not a tactic to use with this man since I wanted to trade in the future and he wasn't driven by profit. He was a gem collector who had turned his hobby into a career. He didn't care if he didn't sell anything to me. In fact, he would prefer it if people didn't bother him...

I put my Guide on the table and set a small cloth bag beside it. Starsong had sent me and Ronan, in our civilian clothing to blend in, down along some creeks near several cities to pick up several objects that his scanners had detected. He had also sent us into a few of the more dubious areas of the town to purchase certain items from baskets of miscellaneous odds and ends.

Some of those objects, as well as a few others that Starsong had purchased on previous planets, currently resided in that cloth bag. I sipped my tea again, patiently waiting as if time was of no consequence. He may look entirely absorbed in what he was watching on his screen, but I knew he would be observing me as well.

Some time later, he grunted and turned his computer off before pushing it slightly to the side as he openly eyed me up with a frown. "Don't you know that my assistant does all the selling?"

I sipped my tea once more before responding calmly, "I do not work in the Procurement area. I came across some stones, and I was told that you had the knowledge to identify almost anything at a glance."

He snorted in disdain. "If you want an appraisal, then go to a jeweler. I have no time for such things."

He got to his feet, and I forced my irritation at the man down as I shrugged. I said, "In order to have something appraised, they have to be able to identify it, and these bits and pieces have them stumped."

He paused and looked at me once more before reluctantly sitting back down as his curiosity overcame his irascibility. "I suppose I can take a glance. You have them with you?"

I opened the bag with one easy tug on the strings before shaking a few of the pieces into the palm of my hand. "These are a few of the smallest ones. I have larger samples on the ship if they are needed."

I held my hand closer to him, and he stared intently at the glittering pieces as he pulled a jeweler's loupe out of his pocket. He picked up one of the pieces and held the glittering orange stone in front of the special magnifying glass as he examined it with one eye. He spun the tiny marble-sized piece around for quite some time before putting it down on the table and taking another one from my hand to inspect.

He quickly snagged the bag and emptied its rainbow-colored contents into his hand, sifting through the piles of sparkling and glittering gems with a finger. It was amazing how well some of those bits of rock and grubby old beads had polished up once we brought them back to the ship. Some of the second-hand vendors had been unknowingly selling rare and precious gems as old trinkets.

He started sorting the various beads, stones, gems, and such into several piles as he began to look more and more excited. He turned his computer back on before quickly looking up various identification manuals to double check his hunches on several pieces.

I continued to wait patiently while occasionally sipping my tea.