Itwasvery crowded, so Fiona didn’t argue. She didn’t think anyone knew she was here, so she wasn’t really in any danger, but she would play by the rules.
Once they were inside, the noise was a low hum. Not nearly as bad as she’d feared. The Balcoans weren’t loud people and their voice pitch was on the quiet side. They were a similar height to Fee, so she didn’t feel towered over, either, which she liked. It was Trayla and Natta who stood out, head and shoulders above most of the shoppers, although there were enough Grih in the crowd that they didn’t look too out of place.
“Eazi,” she said, tapping into their comm channel. “I think you need to give Paxe access to my lens feed.” She adjusted her shirt to make sure the tiny lens that was worked into the upper left shoulder was unobstructed. “There are things in here he might be interested in.”
“From the looks of it, me, too.” Eazi’s tone was excited.
“You, too,” she agreed with a smile. She thought the items for sale might be a good indicator of who to talk to about any possible items from the Grimwell Materials factory. If they were selling parts that were similar to the ones that were consistently not being delivered to Paxe on Larga Ways, she could at the very least find out whowasproducing such things.
“That looks like the brackets we were promised last month,” Paxe said as she approached a long table covered in miscellaneous metal items. “The large ones on your right.”
Fiona reached out and lifted one up, then had to stiffen her arm to keep a hold of it. It was heavier than it looked.
“What do you think?” she asked, looking over her shoulder as if she were talking to Trayla.
The Grihan walked closer, head tilted. “What’s it for?” she asked.
“Those might be the actual brackets.” Paxe’s voice was soft with outrage. “The dimensions are the same.”
“Can I help you?” The Balcoan behind the table had wandered over and was eyeing her with interest. His gaze jumped from her to Trayla, as if noticing the difference in their height.
“I’m building something at the moment, and I think these might work,” Fiona said. “How much are they?”
He mentioned an amount that, while high, Fiona was sure was probably quite reasonable for the materials used and the precision needed in the construction.
“That’s half what they were asking us to pay,” Eazi said. He was always very aware of the costs. It was why the way station had never done as well financially as it was doing right now.
“Well,” Fiona set it down. “That’s a lot . . .”
“I’ll take off ten percent if you buy more than one,” the trader bargained.
“That’s the thing . . . I’d like to take all the ones this size,” Fiona said. “But that’ll come to—” She stopped to do the math in her head.
“I can do you a deal for all of them.” The trader tried to pretend nonchalance. “But at this price, you’ll have to pay now and take them now.”
“I think we can manage that,” Trayla said. “There’s a service my company uses. I think they’re available to freelance. They pick up heavier items and deliver.” She stepped away, touching her ear piece as she began talking softly.
Fiona guessed she was calling Natta.
That was confirmed when Eazi chimed in. “Natta needs a small hover cart. I’m going to co-opt one for him.”
Trayla turned back with a broad smile. “My courier says he can be here in half an hour.”
“Great. Let’s stack them.” Fiona began taking the brackets off the table and putting them to one side. “Do you make these yourself?” she asked the trader.
“Oh, no. This is part of a lot that was auctioned off a couple of weeks ago from a factory that was closing down.” The trader waved at the table. “About a quarter of the items on the table are from that same deal.”
“I’ll get the admiral to send some embassy staff and maybe a few more spies to come buy the rest of the items,” Eazi said. “The seller might get suspicious if you buy any more.”
He definitely would. And she didn’t want to attract unwanted attention to the items, either. If they were meant for Paxe, she wanted all the items to go to him.
She looked around casually as she and Trayla finished stacking the brackets, but no one seemed to be paying them any mind.
She lifted one of the other strangely-shaped pieces of metal. “Is this from the same company?” she asked.
“That’s another of my parts,” Paxe hissed in her ear. “Make sure someone gets that, Eazi.”
“The company that made these is out of business now,” the trader said. “But you’re welcome to keep coming back here if those brackets work out for you, because I successfully bid on most of their inventory when they closed. A few other traders got a couple of consignments, but I got the bulk of it.”
