Engineered Empress - The story of Bia

Engineered Empress Part 19

"There you have it. It is safety that comes with your brand. And that is priceless."

"Okay I can see that. Fresh fruit and veggies cost also an arm and a leg here. Hey, if we had brought more, we could put up a market here. This is ridiculous. But I really would love to know where the chandlery gets our starter from. We haven't sold it to them directly, but their inventory lists 25 canisters." At that moment Mollie brought them their order and Zar thanked her flirtingly.

"Thank you, Mollie, this looks delicious. May I ask where you get your fruit?" She laughed at him.

"Sure sugar, we have first pick at the chandlery for the frozen and dehydrated stuff. Can't afford the fresh fruits. Same with the veggies. It doesn't taste as good, but you use what you can pay for, ya?" Bia tasted the pie, moaned and looked up at the grinning Mollie and on spur of the moment said.

"I have four stasis crates full of fruits and veggies on my ship... all together about one ton. If you tell me where I can get a good price for them, you get to pick out 100 kilos of it." Mollie got round eyes and asked.

"Why me?" Now it was Bia's turn to laugh.

"You resemble my great grandma; she is in her nineties and still working strong. This is a nice café; you survive from mouth to mouth advertising not a big sign outside. Stars, Zar's nose brought us in here quite literally. And last you make really great apple pie without the best ingredients. I like to taste what you can do if you don't have to limit yourself." Mollie smiled graciously at the compliments, knowing they were all true.

"Okay, that's all true, but who are you? Where do you get your product?" Bia grinned and held her hand out.

"Hello, my name is Bia Norcott, part owner of Facet Inc., and the one who grew most of the fruits and veggies I brought with me from Hunters Back." Mollie shook her hand.

"Nice to meet you Miss Norcott. Let me arrange for my niece to take over and we can talk then. Give me 30 minutes, yes?" She looked eager but questioning from Zar to Bia, who nodded.

"Please, call me Bia and yes, we wait. I would also another portion, please." Mollie tipped the order into her pad and inclined her head. Zar enjoyed his pie slowly, savoring every bite.

"You know, Bee, for somebody who has no idea how to sell something, you are a natural. How do you want to approach the chandlery about the algae?"

"I am not sure yet. It looks fishy. They list to have 25 units here. But we usually only sell about 4 a piece. How did they get them? Are they really ours? I think I want to buy a unit first and check it out."

"Okay, I see what you mean, let's buy a unit for pickup later. It's on our way to the Tharsis anyway. You also should look it up if there are quarantine procedures you need to know about because you have fresh foods. I know the algae starters comes in sealed containers and are usually exempt." They ordered another coffee while Bia looked everything up.

"Oh, here it is, Keplar III scans all incoming food stuff for contamination with all known harmful bacteria, viruses and parasites. So, the same as we do at home before placing anything in the hot houses. There is a service fee of 25 credits per container, but that isn't much." A while later Mollie sat down at the table.

"Bia, I checked you out with station security, they confirmed who you are. Can you show me what you have to offer?"

"Sure, do you want to see the list or into the container?"

"Why not both, shoot me your list and I see if there is something I can't use. If everything is fine, I will make you an offer for all 4 crates." Bia send her the list and Mollie looked it over.