Piestoff came out of light speed four systems away from where they thought the enemy base was. In the last two days he had scouted five systems in a seemingly haphazard manner looking for signs of early warning posts or hidden fleets. He had visited two colonies looking for new spices to make his cover story more plausible. So far he had drawn a blank; no sign of the enemy, or any new spices. Each evening he would send a sub space message back to the Ick fleet telling his position on the agreed upon route and the fact those systems were clear. He had another two days before he would reach his target and then two days before the Ick fleet would arrive.
This system, known as Big Rocks, was seen as a likely site to hide any reinforcement fleet as there was a large asteroid belt close to the largest planet. None of the planets here were capable of sustaining life, but it was known that a trading post was on the fourth of the seven planets. Ore and gem miners would come to systems like this, hoping to find large deposits in the barren planets, and two hundred years ago, such a large deposit of metals had been found and mined out. For fifty years this system had been busy as it was strip mined before the miners moved on to a new lode in another system. For a few decades after that, independent prospectors had managed a meager existence, mining what was left behind. Now a single trading post remained, more an outpost maintained by people too stubborn to move or with nowhere better to go. Setting course for the trading post, Piestoff set every possible sensor to scan the asteroid belt.
As he came around the sixth planet, his scanners picked up two ships on an intercept course; he raised his shields as a precaution and set the computer so he could jump to light speed if needed. Snoodgrass had given him a small transmitter that he could activate when he had found the enemy fleet, which he slipped into a small pouch hidden on Poodles’ collar. On the collar's name tag, he placed a tiny micro-dot video recorder which would stream pictures to the transmitter and back to his ship where it would automatically be forwarded to the Ick. Turning on the ship’s viewer, he saw the company he was about to get was two of the unknown enemy fighter ships. The ship to ship radio crackled to life and a robotic voice spoke.
“Trading vessel, identify yourself and your destination,” came the orders from the ships as they took up attack positions.
“Hello, I’m Alienbutt, a spice trader from the Sloppystool system. I was told that there is a trading post in this system and was hoping to do a little business,” replied Piestoff as he slowed his ship. “Is there a problem?”
The radio went quiet for a while; Piestoff stopped his ship, figuring that if they were going to shoot at him they would have just opened fire already.
“You will fall into formation and prepare to be searched when we reach our destination. If you fail to comply you will be destroyed.”
The radio link was broken and the ships started to move, one taking up position behind him while the other led the way. Piestoff was led to the dark side of the planet’s moon where two of the cruisers he had seen in the battle were in a low orbit. He was given orders to enter the docking bay of one and made an intentional clumsy landing in the bay, causing a shower of sparks as his landing gear dug deep rips in the floor. A security squad waited for him as he opened the ramp and disembarked, Poodles just behind him. All four members quickly raised their guns as they saw Poodles come down the ramp, walking on all fours.
“Don’t worry, he’s a big softy, scratch him behind his ears and he’s a friend for life.”
“You can’t bring that...” the commander of the security team began but then paused, searching for words but failing, “...that thing on here!” He was a skinny rat-faced Nuvan, looking much like a human but with rough coarse black hair running in a narrow strip over his head and back. He took a step back as Poodles stood onto his hind legs and sniffed the air.
At just over twelve feet, with a mouth full of razor sharp teeth and his body covered in long shaggy fur, Piestoff had to admit he was intimidating.
“Don’t go upsetting him; he gets touchy if he thinks you don’t like him. Sometimes I swear he understands every word you say,” added Piestoff in a friendly manner.
He smiled as all four guards took another step back. They were an assortment of different species, but that was to be expected here in the outer systems, where the intelligent species of the universe mixed without the politics found in the inner systems. Poodles dropped back onto all fours and walked over to the wall and cocked his leg to relieve himself.
“He likes it here, look, he’s marking out his territory,” added Piestoff, smiling in a calm matter-of-fact way. “Now could I ask why you have stopped an honest trader going about his business?”
“You are flying in forbidden space,” the Nuvan stammered. “You will be taken to see the captain so we can clarify if you are who you claim to be.” He continued trying to regain the upper hand and his authority.
After ten minutes of arguing over Piestoff leaving Poodles, it was finally agreed that he would leave his dog on his ship. Giving a warning that Poodles would probably attack anyone who went aboard before he returned, Piestoff went off to meet the captain, knowing that no one would try to venture onto his ship.
The ship was only about half the size of the Ick dreadnoughts and despite the fact that the crew all wore uniforms, even Piestoff could tell they were not regular naval personnel, but the dregs of space put in clean clothing. The captain was a green-skinned lizard-featured creature of a race Piestoff didn’t recognise, but he reminded him of the Trollians, only not as heavily muscled. He was sitting in his office appearing to read a report when Piestoff walked in flanked by a security guard on each side. After a moment he looked up and studied Piestoff, taking in his attire and apparently forming his opinion of his risk.
Alienbutt grinned inwardly as he saw him relax. “You are the trader Alienbutt?” Piestoff glanced around the office and nodded absently. “What goods are you carrying for trade?” the captain continued sitting back, already looking bored.
“I’ve got spices, spiced meats and a small amount of Brazilian coffee beans from one of the Sloppystool plantations,” Piestoff replied. This got everyone’s attention, as Wickede had told him good quality coffee was very rare out this far, and Sloppystool’s coffee was the best. Dipping his hand into his pocket he pulled out a small clear bag with half a dozen beans in. He tossed it over to the captain. Opening the bag with shaking hands he sniffed the contents and his eyes glazed slightly as he slumped into the comfort of his chair. Piestoff could feel the guards on either side of him fidgeting at being so close to so much pure coffee. The Captain held up the small bag and gave it a little shake.
Piestoff smiled brightly. “A gift for you mighty Captain, to show my good will in the hope we can come to an agreement so I can continue on my way.”
He heard the guards gasp in disbelief. Coffee was an evil drug if you weren’t human, Ick or Piestoff, totally addictive, and it had all of space enslaved, even, it seemed, out at the edge of the known universe. The captain’s eyes became calculating. He took out a single bean and held it out.
“Guards, wait outside while I discuss trade with our new friend.” One guard stepped forward with a large grin on his face and took the bean, before leaving the room.
The captain indicated a chair for Piestoff to sit. “How many coffee beans do you have to trade?”
Piestoff smiled as he sat back in the chair. This creature may have the title of captain but his control of his crew was not great, so he had to bribe his security officers. Now he was certain this force was not regular navy but as he suspected, ships manned by a crew of press-ganged thugs.
“Five hundred beans locked in a tamper acid chest.” Alienbutt said.
Even the lizard features of the captain couldn’t hide the looks that crossed his face; greed, anger and then hunger. The tamper acid chests were invented to keep safe important items; if the wrong person tried to open it then acid would destroy whatever was inside. Piestoff actually had three chests, each with five hundred beans that he could have sold, bought a planet and retired on. The captain sat forward and they started to negotiate a deal.
Thanks for reading, all images are my own work.
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