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rainbowfic2013-08-26 10:51 pm
ysabetwordsmith) wrote in rainbowfic2013-08-26 10:51 pm
Entry tags:
Poem: "Stock in Trade"
Name: ysabetwordsmith
Story: An Army of One
Colors: Vellum #10 "Fragment"
Styles/Supplies: None
Word Count: 644
Rating/Warnings: PG; no standard warnings apply
Summary: After the secession, Router tries to find a new source for supplies, so that the Gardener will be able to grow food to support the people.
Note: An Army of One: The Autistic Secession in Space tells about some unusual people who decide to make a home for themselves between the galactic arms. This is neurovariant sociological science fiction.
"Stock in Trade"
Router looked at the requisition list
that Sam the Gardener had provided,
of which the top two items --
more smugglers and plant seeds --
posed the biggest challenge.
He gave a wistful sigh for the old days
before the secession, when he had
a whole network of contacts to draw upon:
other supply officers, the soldiers
who liked to trade in contraband,
a handful of civilian suppliers
on the black market.
Now it was harder, most of his contacts
gone or refusing to speak with him,
leaving him with only a fragment of what he once had.
Router missed his fellow officers most,
for he was the only one of his kind left in the Lacuna.
The secessionists weren't sociable people on average,
not given to networking.
Oh, the former Carinan forces had
Operetta who knew the smuggler Short John.
On the Orion side they had
Hootowl who knew almost everyone
and the Minotaur in the starship junkyard
and Lord of Pr0n who surely had contacts.
But that was about it.
Worse, Router didn't have much
to offer in trade, even when he could make contact.
People wanted the usual valuables,
of which he no longer got shipments
so there was no chance of a windfall
if far too much got delivered;
and the requests for war souvenirs were up,
but for that people wanted Orion goods
and all his stock was Carinan.
Fragments of records mocked him,
incompleted transactions
that would never come to fruition now.
Router watched his storerooms empty
and the deck space grow,
worrying about how to provide
for his new crewmember to come.
Router wanted to make the Gardener
feel welcome here on the base,
which meant he wanted to have
as much as possible ready before arrival,
because if the fellow was anything like Backup
then he wouldn't like change very much,
so the less upheaval after he got here, the better.
The chemicals were the easy part --
nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium --
and he had plenty of lights.
Estelle would provide extra water
and trace elements from comets.
The plant seeds and the smugglers
pretty much fell to Router, though.
A breakthrough came when the Minotaur,
who was trying to determine whether
any of the derelict ships could be repaired,
complained about ridiculous requests.
People wanted souvenirs from him too --
but they were asking the former Orion
for Carinan souvenirs.
The Minotaur had none of those,
but Router did, and just like that,
he was on familiar ground again.
"Weapons are the most desirable,
followed by medals and rank patches,
but anything with a serial number on it --
even a fragment of battle scrap --
has some kind of value," Router explained.
"Send me a list of what you have,
I'll send you mine, and we'll talk trade."
Once they swapped goods with each other,
they could turn to their separate contacts
and barter for the things they really needed.
It turned out that the derelict ships of Sargasso Base
contained a great deal of defunct weapons,
while Supply Base Bounty 3D3N held
a variety of rank patches and medals.
With new trade stock in hand,
Router tracked down a smuggler
by the name of Anne Goede
who was taking advantage of the chaos
to expand her market reach.
"You want what?" she said,
laughing at him over the comm.
"Plant seeds," Router repeated.
"See the appended list for varieties."
It took time, but the goods arrived:
lettuce seeds as fine as sand,
strawberry seeds scarcely larger,
wrinkled green peas and dark beans,
round balls of coriander,
and the flat black tabs that would become
moon-and-stars watermelons.
Router stocked them in the supply closet
that he had begun to think of as the garden shed,
and ticked off the top two items
on the Gardener's requisition list.
ysabetwordsmith Story: An Army of One
Colors: Vellum #10 "Fragment"
Styles/Supplies: None
Word Count: 644
Rating/Warnings: PG; no standard warnings apply
Summary: After the secession, Router tries to find a new source for supplies, so that the Gardener will be able to grow food to support the people.
Note: An Army of One: The Autistic Secession in Space tells about some unusual people who decide to make a home for themselves between the galactic arms. This is neurovariant sociological science fiction.
"Stock in Trade"
Router looked at the requisition list
that Sam the Gardener had provided,
of which the top two items --
more smugglers and plant seeds --
posed the biggest challenge.
He gave a wistful sigh for the old days
before the secession, when he had
a whole network of contacts to draw upon:
other supply officers, the soldiers
who liked to trade in contraband,
a handful of civilian suppliers
on the black market.
Now it was harder, most of his contacts
gone or refusing to speak with him,
leaving him with only a fragment of what he once had.
Router missed his fellow officers most,
for he was the only one of his kind left in the Lacuna.
The secessionists weren't sociable people on average,
not given to networking.
Oh, the former Carinan forces had
Operetta who knew the smuggler Short John.
On the Orion side they had
Hootowl who knew almost everyone
and the Minotaur in the starship junkyard
and Lord of Pr0n who surely had contacts.
But that was about it.
Worse, Router didn't have much
to offer in trade, even when he could make contact.
People wanted the usual valuables,
of which he no longer got shipments
so there was no chance of a windfall
if far too much got delivered;
and the requests for war souvenirs were up,
but for that people wanted Orion goods
and all his stock was Carinan.
Fragments of records mocked him,
incompleted transactions
that would never come to fruition now.
Router watched his storerooms empty
and the deck space grow,
worrying about how to provide
for his new crewmember to come.
Router wanted to make the Gardener
feel welcome here on the base,
which meant he wanted to have
as much as possible ready before arrival,
because if the fellow was anything like Backup
then he wouldn't like change very much,
so the less upheaval after he got here, the better.
The chemicals were the easy part --
nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium --
and he had plenty of lights.
Estelle would provide extra water
and trace elements from comets.
The plant seeds and the smugglers
pretty much fell to Router, though.
A breakthrough came when the Minotaur,
who was trying to determine whether
any of the derelict ships could be repaired,
complained about ridiculous requests.
People wanted souvenirs from him too --
but they were asking the former Orion
for Carinan souvenirs.
The Minotaur had none of those,
but Router did, and just like that,
he was on familiar ground again.
"Weapons are the most desirable,
followed by medals and rank patches,
but anything with a serial number on it --
even a fragment of battle scrap --
has some kind of value," Router explained.
"Send me a list of what you have,
I'll send you mine, and we'll talk trade."
Once they swapped goods with each other,
they could turn to their separate contacts
and barter for the things they really needed.
It turned out that the derelict ships of Sargasso Base
contained a great deal of defunct weapons,
while Supply Base Bounty 3D3N held
a variety of rank patches and medals.
With new trade stock in hand,
Router tracked down a smuggler
by the name of Anne Goede
who was taking advantage of the chaos
to expand her market reach.
"You want what?" she said,
laughing at him over the comm.
"Plant seeds," Router repeated.
"See the appended list for varieties."
It took time, but the goods arrived:
lettuce seeds as fine as sand,
strawberry seeds scarcely larger,
wrinkled green peas and dark beans,
round balls of coriander,
and the flat black tabs that would become
moon-and-stars watermelons.
Router stocked them in the supply closet
that he had begun to think of as the garden shed,
and ticked off the top two items
on the Gardener's requisition list.
Thank you!