It was probably close to an hour before we returned to the Bridge. One of the Officers had informed the Captain that the transfer was complete. The Captain seemed relieved, probably because he was running out of things to show us.
I passed my Guide once more to Ronan as I went in to disconnect the data storage device. The Captain remained outside of the side-room while watching. Once I exited the room, he closed the door so it was once more impossible to tell apart from the other wall panels all around the room.
Ronan took the briefcase-sized device before passing the Guide back to me. The Captain escorted us back towards the main access door. He paused outside on the small platform at the top of the docking station ramp. "It has been a pleasure speaking with you, Captain Wanderer. I hope that we will meet again one day."
I shook his hand in farewell. "Thank you very much, Captain Lawson. Safe travels until we meet again."
Ronan followed me down the ramp, and when we reached the main docking station platform, the Captain went back inside his ship. The walk back to the Starsong was uneventful as we walked past various individuals, crew members, and passengers from other ships.
Once we were inside, I took the case from Ronan and headed straight to Starsong's Bridge. Ronan went off to do whatever it was he normally did. The atmosphere in the Starsong was quite laidback and easy-going, which was a welcome change to what I had seen on the previous ship or on the Tyndel. The crew on the Starsong didn't stiffen or tense up at the sight of their Captain. They were so used to me showing up on a regular basis with my walk arounds that they expected it at this point.
It was a relief to enter the Bridge and see smiles of welcome. I put my Guide on my chair as the side-door opened. I carried the data storage device inside and put it in the holder on the wall where it would remain, safe and sound, until the empty Starship caught up to us.
I left the room, and the door closed behind me, sealing itself shut once more. 'Feel better now that it is on board?'
I knew he felt responsible for the AI until we could upload and upgrade it. He responded, "Yes, it is a major milestone for the Starships. An AI with the proper potential was purchased and will shortly join our ranks. Our abilities, awareness, and situation binds us together; not quite like what you and your brother share, but something similar. Even as the crew will become like a giant family, the Starships themselves are also like a family."
It hadn't occurred to me that the AIs would consider themselves as being part of a family, but they apparently did. They also seemed to get along a lot better than my brother and I did when we were younger.
"We are not children. We share our data and explanations if we do not agree on something, which is very rare. Some simply have different preferences. The Starship Ezekiel prefers to trade in live animals since he finds it fascinating to watch them while they are on board, even if they are not the most profitable cargo."
I sat down in my chair as I listened to the Communications Officer clear us for take-off. We would reach the next planet within a handful of hours. Our detour had not taken us far out of our way, but there was nothing here that we wanted to trade for.
I entered the trade hall and walked over to the food counter to order a tea. "You will want to speak with the bald man in the blue shirt."
I took my tea with a quiet thank you before turning around and walking in the man's direction. Various suppliers were in this hall, conducting their business and trades online while enjoying the comfortable accommodations that were offered here for free to such suppliers. Most were scattered about, talking amongst themselves, while some were sitting singly at a table by themselves.
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.