"Good afternoon, my name is Nala, and I will be your guide this afternoon through the market areas. Please let me know if there is anything that you particularly want to see or a product that you would like to purchase that isn't at the shops along the main street, and I will see what we can do to help you out." A lanky young woman with her blonde hair pulled into a tight bun greeted Max and Nico a few minutes later.
"I'm Max and this is Nico." Max replied, then flashed her the local hand sign for the Black Market, which he had pulled from her mind only seconds earlier.
Her smile got impossibly wider, and she happily skipped across the landing pad.
"Just follow me, and we will have a wonderful time shopping today." She announced.
They followed her across the landing pad and down a side service tunnel that was much smaller than the one that the cargo buggy had taken. It wound downward as a steep ramp,
The walls and floor were surprisingly clean, and Max wondered if they had an auto-cleaning feature installed, or if there was a cleaning robot of some sort that maintained these tunnels. It looked like a service entrance, and those were usually grungy in any world, as they only got the most basic of cleaning by staff.
The exit led them to a narrow alley between rustic looking shops with classic curved clay roofing tile awnings over fake wood facades with neon lights everywhere.
They were definitely in the seedier side of the market area, where you could actually get the good stuff, not the shiny market areas where you take foreign tourists who would be willing to pay a crazy markup to get hard to find items.
"Welcome to the real marketplace, Lord Commander. I should have guessed that the humans would be a solid species and not like the fluffy Alliance bureaucrats. There is someone who wants to meet you in the restaurant here, if you have an hour to eat before we shop?" Nala asked.
"Sure. I'm not really dressed for a business meeting, but a little bling and I should be good to go." Max agreed, then took a small personal force field out of his flat space, and hung it around his neck with the attached gold chain.
Nico had built one into her body, and it would automatically activate if it sensed a threat, so there was no worry on that front, and if Nala noticed that they were now wearing armour, she didn't say anything.
The restaurant was very nondescript and blended in well with the working-class surroundings. The kitchen was serving something similar to Kepler Core traditional cuisine, bite sized pieces, mostly deep-fried and intended to be eaten with rice using chopsticks. The scents were unfamiliar, but going by the guests, the dinner etiquette was familiar enough.
Nala led them to a table in the corner by the front of the restaurant, out of sight of the windows, and well away from where the other guests were seated.
The waiter took their order, and Nala ordered them a pot of tea and the fried flounder, then a few flavours of dumplings.
The first part was the important part. The pot of tea let the waiter know that they wanted a meeting, and the flounder was a big fish. It was a local Black Market signal to bring the boss out to meet a visiting VIP.
Max sipped at the tea as the Black Market boss in the back looked up their credentials and realized that they were from the Terminus Trading Company, which had numerous dealings with their counterparts already, and even hosted a number of Black Market businesses on their World Ship, while knowing what they were, and who they were operated by.
That changed the man's entire attitude. He was responsible for the small market here in the Cherry Resort Business District, but that was nothing compared to the hundreds of billions of credits in deals and the rumour of unregistered Warp Cores that his connections had reported.
He took the time to change into his finest suit to come out and meet Max and Nico, which startled Nala. She knew the signal that Max had given her, but nobody had filled her in on his background. She only knew that he was aware of the Black Market, nothing more.
"Lord and Lady of the Terminus Trading Company, welcome to my humble abode. You can call me Alix. The food will be out in just a moment. What brings such illustrious guests to my doorstep today?" The local Boss asked.
"We had a delivery here for the Resort, and we thought we would do a bit of shopping while we were out. You never know what sort of interesting things you might find when you have an afternoon to explore with a local guide." Max replied with a smile.
Nico gently pushed Nala's mouth closed again, helping the young woman recover from her shock at the Boss's attitude toward these two.
"I guess nobody warned you. The Reavers as a whole have excellent relations with the various trade groups of the Alliance. We specialize in moving goods of all sorts, and some of what we produce isn't officially licensed for use in the Alliance." Nico whispered to their tour guide.
The Boss had sharp hearing, and he smirked at her words.
"That's one way of putting it. Nala here is still young, so she hasn't had the time to study up. These two fine Reavers Command a Company that counts a World Ship and a Colony Ship as well as dozens of Destroyers among their fleet, and they hold Terraforming Agreements with over five hundred worlds." He explained to his young protégé.
"That's it, that's where I heard these names before. Terminus Trading Company developed the new Terraforming Array, the one that single-handedly put a half dozen agencies out of business. They've sold over five hundred units in the last two years, that's more than everyone else combined." She blurted out, a bit louder than intended.
Fortunately, everyone here worked for the boss, so there were no unauthorized ears in range, but she immediately covered her mouth and looked sheepish.
"Yes, that's us." Nico agreed.
Her smirk wasn't helping Nala's composure, but the waiter saved her from further embarrassment by bringing out the fried fish, along with their dumplings and a whole roasted duck.
"It's the house specialty, I hope you enjoy." The chef informed them, then bowed and returned to his kitchen.
"Oh, crispy duck. I love crispy duck." Nico cheered as she took in the assortment of foods on the table.
"No need to stand on ceremony with me. Please, eat, and then we can talk about what sort of things you hope to find here today."
Max popped a soup dumpling into his mouth, letting the broth flow down his throat before biting into the soft steamed meat.
"We're just looking for things we haven't seen before. Unique technologies that we might adapt or redesign, products that do something no other product does. It can take a lot to catch our attention, but we have high hopes for this place." He replied with a shrug.
The conversation was quiet for a bit as they ate, but Max knew that the word had been sent out to make sure that any unique items the vendors had were visible when Max and Nico passed by. They had a truly ridiculous amount of Black Market Credits, and a whole afternoon to spend looking.
As the word spread, Max sensed an increase in malicious thoughts. There was a second faction in the underground markets here that was looking to depose the current boss, and they were hoping that an embarrassment in front of an off-world bigwig would be enough of a blow to his reputation that they could muscle him out without inciting a revolt among his allied businesses.
He could likely track it down, but that wouldn't make sense if the current boss was actually as bad at his job as they believed. So, Max chose to give him a chance.
"I should likely warn you, there is a faction here in your territory that is looking to set you up today. That's all I have for you right now, but I'm sure your people have more details." Max quietly informed him before raising his hand to order another assortment of dumplings.
The boss smiled and nodded. "I suspected that they might do something like that. My people should have information to me in a few minutes."
The dumplings arrived, but no informants did, and even fifteen minutes later, none of the underlings that Max assumed should have reported back had been to the restaurant.
He might have missed the digital communications, but he should have sensed the group of them looking for trouble, if they were actually doing their jobs. The boss was thinking the same thing, and he sent out a number of his guards not long after, spreading them out to take the place of the planted sources who should have reported in by now.
Max noticed that there was a large force entering the market area, chasing away the actual shoppers and quietly replacing some of the shopkeepers, who retreated to the apartments over top of their stores.
The game was definitely on now, and it would look odd if he waited inside too much longer, now that they were finishing the second round of dumplings.
"Well, I suppose that it's time for us to get to shopping. Thank you for your hospitality." Max informed Alix, the local boss, and stood to shake the man's hand before gesturing for Nala to lead the way out of the restaurant.
"It was a pleasure. I do hope I will see you again soon." The boss replied.
He might need some luck to still be here the next time Max came through, but it was good to keep up your spirits.
