Traders on the galactic.., p.23
Traders On The Galactic Tunnel Network, page 23
“We wondered about the coyotes and the wolves,” Ellen said.
“I initially thought Humans might prefer a world without predators,” the Container Prince said. “Space habitats and colony ships manage to maintain a balance of helpful species, like pollinating insects, and dairy herds, but adjustments are much easier to make on a single deck than on a continent. Ultimately we realized the best approach would be to duplicate the native habitats of Earth that matched various climate and elevation characteristics of this world. It’s a work in progress that would benefit from the manpower supplied by Human immigrants.”
“So you’re not marketing Earth Two as a turnkey operation.”
“I recently learned from Flower that the Stryx enforce real estate disclosure rules when it comes to selling planets to primitive species that are under their protection. It’s not something that’s come up in the last million years, so you can understand my surprise. I can offer financing on advantageous terms to responsible parties, but I’m done pouring cash into this place without any returns, and I’ll have to insist on either a serious down payment or a co-signer.”
“As it happens, I also received some new information just before leaving Flower,” John said. “I’ve been authorized by my employers to open negotiations on behalf of a group of potential buyers who are willing to act in the interest of the nascent Human Empire, though we’re talking about a payment plan that will stretch well into several lifespans.”
“Our lifespans or your lifespans?” Prume asked.
“Human lifespans,” John amended himself, and the Dollnicks relaxed visibly.
“I’ll need to know who those buyers are if I’m going to start sharing proprietary data,” the Container Prince said. “A non-disclosure agreement is only as good as the highest bidder.”
“I don’t see any problem with that. You’ll be dealing with the owners of InstaSitter, who—”
“I know all about InstaSitter,” Prume interrupted, jumping up. “We use them to watch the hatchlings whenever we visit a Stryx station. I teach a Dollnick university extension course on branding, and I’ve started using InstaSitter as an example of brilliance. A lesser entrepreneur may have gone for Five Second Sitter, but that would have left the door open to One Second Sitter. Milliseconds can be outdone by Microseconds, ad infinitum. But InstaSitter? It’s game over!”
“So they’ve got good credit,” the Container Prince said, waving impatiently at his assistant to sit. “Anybody else?”
“Aisha McAllister, the host of—”
“You really did line up the big guns. My great-grandchildren all watch ‘Let’s Make Friends’ and I bought them the complete back episodes for Egg Day.”
“My instructions are to request that we be given first right of refusal on any sale,” John continued. “In exchange, I’m authorized to offer a refundable one million cred deposit, to be held by a mutually agreed-upon third party, such as the Tharks.”
“The Tharks will do fine,” the Container Prince said magnanimously, and then served himself a large chunk of the fruitcake. “I’ve been talking so much that I haven’t had a chance to enjoy a snack, and then I look forward to showing you around and dispelling any negative impressions I may have put in your mind by complying with full disclosure. It is a very nice continent, and the rest of the planet could be brought up to spec in just a few lifetimes.”
“Your lifetimes or our lifetimes?” Ellen asked.
“Touché,” the Dollnick said, refilling his cup.
There was a sudden blast of wind as Semmi dropped out of the sky and braked to a halt right next to the picnic table. She folded her wings, took one of the open cider bottles in her beak, and chugged the remaining contents.
“Sorry about her manners,” John said. “We only learned how to read the instruction manual recently.”
The gryphon dropped the bottle, dipped into the leather flight pouch she’d taken to wearing, and brought out her cell phone.
“If you’re wondering why you can’t buy any streaming videos, it’s because there’s no coverage on this world,” Ellen told her. “It’s technology, not magic.”
Semmi dropped the phone on the table, and sitting back on her haunches, drew a square in the air with her front paws.
“Oh, sorry,” Ellen apologized, swiping the phone to life and bringing up the recent pictures. “Hey, look at these,” she said, turning the phone so that John could see it too.
“Are those passenger pigeons?” he asked in astonishment. “They’re extinct on Earth.”
“There must be millions in that flock. And look at this,” she said, flipping to the next picture where a shocked-looking eagle had just dropped a salmon mid-air and was wheeling about to flee. Semmi chortled and let out a fresh-fish burp.
“It looks like she’s got the makings of a fine real estate agent,” the Container Prince said.
“Wait, can you zoom in on that one?” John asked as Ellen thumbed past a picture of a pond. “That looked like a raft with people on it.”
“I assure you that you’re the first Humans to visit this world,” Prume said, though his whistle seemed a little shaky.
“They are people, but there’s something a little off about them,” Ellen said. “Aren’t their heads a bit too large?”
“Alts,” John concluded, and glared at the Container Prince. “When were you going to tell me that they were here?”
“Since you already arranged to purchase the rights of first refusal, I didn’t see the point,” the Dollnick said complacently. “I wonder how your gryphon located them so quickly. I estimate at her top flying speed, she would have had to fly in practically a straight line to make it out to their location and back in the time since you landed.”
“It seems she has a gift for locating sentient beings. We just found out that Tyrellian gryphons are telepaths and she’s been ransacking my mind for passwords. It’s a shame she can’t project her thoughts the same way.”
Semmi snorted, put her front paws on the table, and fixed the man with an intense stare. About ten seconds went by, and then he groaned.
“What is it?” Ellen asked. “Do you see anything?”
John nodded, pulled a treat out of his pocket, and tossed it to the gryphon. “I think we just graduated from click-training.”
From the Author
My next release will continue the story of Semmi, John, Ellen, Larry, and Georgia, making it the third in what I’m now calling the EarthCent Auxiliaries series. If you’re new to the EarthCent books, you can start back at the beginning with Union Station 1, 2, 3, a discounted three-book bundle, or if you’re not that ambitious, with Independent Living, the first of four in the EarthCent Universe spinoff.
For notifications of new releases, sign up for the mailing list at www.ifitbreaks.com. I also post new releases to facebook.com/E.M.Foner/ and respond to all temperate e-mail sent to e_foner@yahoo.com
The first sixteen EarthCent books, also known as the Union Station series, are numbered in order. Following the sixteenth book, Last Night on Union Station, the timeline order is the same as the publication date order:
Independent Living (EarthCent Universe 1)
Soup Night on Union Station (Union Station 17)
Assisted Living (EarthCent Universe 2)
Freelance on the Galactic Tunnel Network (EarthCent Auxiliaries 1)
Con Living (EarthCent Universe 3)
Empire Night on Union Station (Union Station 18)
Space Living (EarthCent Universe 4)
Traders on the Galactic Tunnel Network (EarthCent Auxiliaries 2)
Foner, E. M., Traders On The Galactic Tunnel Network
