Every Man's Fantasy Ch. 24

As Tatiana headed to him, she said to Wildchild: "Tell him your name is Sam. No need to say where you come from."

"Tatiana Filíppovna!" the man exclaimed, forcing himself up with a panting wheeze. "Joy of the world! I've not seen you in ten lonely years. Why did you leave me bereft and lovelorn?"

He kissed her cheeks and held her hand warmly.

"Viktor Petrovich, you old fraud, I see through you."

"You always could. Where have you been, my darling?"

"I was married and gave up gypsy life. But am back now."

"You were married? How did you find a man worthy enough? Or strong enough? Was he virile? Did you wear him out? I bet he died happy."

"He lives, k sozhaleniyu, but he never flattered me like you do. Girls, this is Viktor. He is fraud, trickster, gambler and flatterer."

The man bowed deeply to Hazel and Wildchild.

"Viktor Bogdanov at your service, Ladies," the Russian man said with perfect English intonation and no accent. "May I ask your names?"

"I'm Hazel."

"I'm Sam."

"Hazel, Sam," he said, kissing their hands, "your beauty lights up our humble merchants' hall and makes glad the hearts of all men."

"Humbug!" pronounced Tatiana. "You said same to me, once."

"My sweet Madam, if you'd married me when I asked, then I would have said it to you every day of my life."

"He's also liar," Tatiana said to the girls. "He never ask me."

Viktor laughed and invited his guests to sit down.

"Tatiana, my dear, that's the biggest mistake of my life, so far."

He poured out four glasses of tea and handed them around.

Tatiana drank hers in the Russian fashion, through a heaped spoon of sugar. The girls had been warned off sugar by Yael and Ezra, so they sipped first to taste and agreed to a dash of lemon. Everything in their lives was a learning experience and this peculiar man, whose speech was like beguiling honey, was an experience all on his own.

"What will you allow me to buy from you today, my sweet?" Viktor asked. "Do you trade in minerals still ... or in items of Earthly joy?"

He said this with a look toward the girls.

"I forgot. Viktor is also scoundrel. Girls, he asks if you are prostitutes."

She said the word as if she were spitting it out.

"A kinder word is Entertainers," Viktor said.

Tatiana scoffed.

"Entertainers serve a function and earn a good living," he explained. "It's an honourable profession."

"These girls are my protégés. They are skilled and brave prospectors."

"My apologies, Ladies," he said. "I meant no disrespect. With your beauty and elegance, anyone on Argus would have made the same mistake."

The girls were not offended because they did not properly understand what Viktor's offence was, nor the reason for Tatiana's reaction. They smiled sweetly at him and accepted the compliment.

"Here," Tatiana said, putting a data cube on the reader of Viktor's computer tab. It projected her analysis of the minerals they had collected.

The mass spectrograph results showed a rich cargo. Viktor tapped on his computer tab and looked at a readout, with its flashing red and green numbers giving prices for raw materials.

"Most excellent joy, Madam! You have lots that is good here. Just the list of elements alone will sell it. There is lithium, gold, rhodium, many good things. I will take one ton."

"We sell all eighty tons. Take or leave."

"My dear friend, where would I put eighty tons of lava and pumice? What could I do with it all?"

"Is all solid minerals. All good quality. You come to docks and see for self."

"If only I could, but my physician insists I avoid unnecessary exercise. However, as your friend, I will compromise and take half."

"All or nothing, friend."

"Alas, since you went away, business has not been good to me. I'm much poorer than I was."

"You are humbug, liar, scoundrel and fraud. I take my cargo to English broker. He is honest. Never tries to cheat simple Prospector."

"My love, you wound me to my very core. All right, though I make a loss, here is my offer."

He typed an amount on his keypad.

"Double," said Tatiana.

"Is it your design to ruin me?"

"Da. Double, or Englishman gets cargo."

Viktor typed another number, exactly the value that Tatiana had originally calculated. She smiled.

"Is deal," she said.

"Deal," he agreed and they shook hands.

She was immediately suspicious.

"Why you agree so readily? How are you cheating us?"

Viktor laughed.

"I'm not cheating you, my sweet Tatiana. You won't get a better price elsewhere. You can go and ask around, while your beautiful protégés stay here and talk to me."

"You are cheat, fraud, scoundrel and humbug ..."

"Don't forget liar ..."

"...And liar. But you are not lecher before. These girls are in my protection."

"And they're safe with me. My interest is entirely pecuniary. To prove it, I will add 5% to the price of your cargo, just so the girls from Samothea will indulge an old man's foolish questions."

"So you know who they are?"

"I am slow to catch up but I eventually get there."

Tatiana pondered a minute. There were things she wanted to do that were not, strictly speaking, lessons in being a Prospector. There were also friends to catch up with whose conversation (reminiscence and idle boasting, as was indulged in by all Prospectors) would likely bore the girls.

"Victor Petrovich, I would entrust the girls to your honour but you have none. You keep them safe, you old rascal. And you give us 10% extra."

"7.5%," he said, automatically.

******

After Tatiana left, it was Hazel who asked the first question.

"Viktor," she said. "Why did you pay more than the full price for our cargo just to talk to us?"

"Do you understand what I do here?"

"You're a merchant," Hazel said. "A trader, who buys raw materials from miners and sells them to factories at a profit."

Hazel and Wildchild learned the fundamentals of business and some economics from Ed and Rod, their boyfriends on Celetaris.

"Yes," Viktor agreed. "I'm essentially a broker, someone who puts the producer of one good in touch with its consumer. I add some value, such as warehousing, transportation, inventory, refining and sorting, but my main task is to buy cheaply and sell at a profit. Not only raw materials, either. Anything that people bring me that other people want. ... However, what I really trade in is information."

He pointed to the holographic projection. It had columns of flickering numbers, green and red, with white arrows by them.

"These are the prices of the minerals and the chemical elements in your cargo on the spot markets of London, New York, Hong Kong and some planets nearer here. But prices are not just costs or values. They're information. They tell me how scarce a good is and how much demand there is for it."

"Here is tantalum, for example. Your cargo is rich in the metal and though it's never been particularly expensive, Earth's native sources long ago became more expensive to mine than extraterrestrial imports, so there's profit in shipping it to Earth."

"My job is to guess how much demand there will be for various goods and to stock up on them before the price rises, or sell before the price drops. If I do my job well, then my customers who want extra tantalum (it's used in computers and robot brains) will have a continuous supply and I will make a tidy profit. If I do badly, then I'm stuck with inventory worth less than I paid for it, using up expensive warehouse space."

"We understand," Hazel said. "But how can we possibly know anything useful to you?"

Viktor set the projector to show a graph of a commodity over the last year. There was a mostly flat green line alongside a blue line that fluctuated a little and a red line that climbed steadily.

"This green line shows the price of osmium. The blue line shows the tonnage of osmium sold on the London spot market, which is the galaxy's biggest market for the metal. The interesting red line is - as best as I can learn - the tonnage of osmium sold by the Outworld colony of New Exeter."

He saw flickers of understanding in the girls' eyes.

"So the curiosity is that, although the supply of osmium increased, the price didn't go down. ... There may be many reasons for this anomalous result but the theory I favour is that all the extra production is being bought by one consumer and not released to the general market, which suggests it's being used in manufactures of some kind."

He projected a report he had been reading from the Physics Web about the properties of an osmium-platinum alloy used for x-ray shielding on delicate electronic equipment.

"The planet Samothea is close to a violent x-ray source, isn't it?" he said.

The girls were not sure what they should tell Viktor. They had no experience of business and did not know if anything to do with the Samothea Project was a secret. No one had ever told them not to talk to a businessman about the Project. Only Yael had been warned against talking to reporters about the sexual practises on Samothea.

"You hesitate to tell me what you know?" Viktor said. "You are wise, but I don't think it's a commercial secret you're keeping."

Still the girls hesitated, signalling secretly to one another. Viktor caught the hand movements in the corner of his eye, though he said nothing.

"Viktor," Hazel said. "We're not sure we should be telling you anything. We trust you because you are Tatiana's friend but these are not our secrets to reveal."

"You're quite right, Hazel. I apologise for putting you on the spot. Why don't you ask someone? I will not be offended if you are told to say nothing to me. Here: use my communicator."

The girls opened a channel to Danielle but there was no immediate response, understandably so because Danielle and Roger were on holiday somewhere on an Outworld colony. They also tried to contact Ezra, who was on Earth, with an equal failure to connect. They left messages for both of them and, instead, contacted Tatiana to ask her advice.

It was no more successful. Tatiana answered with a slightly slurred voice, as if she had been drinking. The video image wobbled as she fumbled with the communicator. She was laughing loudly, sitting on the lap of a huge man, who was tickling her under the chin as she tried to talk. She batted the man's hand away with a laughing curse.

He looked like a pantomime pirate, with a bald head, a big black beard, a patch over his left eye and a long deep scar from his forehead to his jaw. He needed only an earring and a gold tooth to complete the costume. But he seemed to be fond of Tatiana and she seemed fond of him.

The girls got no sense out of Tatiana, who was too drunk or too happy to speak clearly. After a minute, the picture wobbled again and then turned up to the ceiling. Tatiana had dropped the communicator. The girls were on their own and had to use their own judgment.

"Don't tell me anything," Viktor said. "I like talking, so I'll tell you what I know about the Samothea project and you can comment or remain silent as you wish."

"The job of upgrading the Hyperspace Beltway System to use the new hyperspace drives has hit a snag and is delayed," Viktor said, "but no one knows how long for. Meanwhile, the Nakatani Corporation is assembling a large consortium to implement the upgrade but it's in danger of unravelling. We know this because Argus asked to buy a direct link from Earth with the new technology and was told that the backlog is many years long. This makes no commercial sense. It would be far better to make the hundreds of tethered pathways that customers are eager for, rather than gamble on a vastly expensive project that may never work."

"It will work," Wildchild said firmly. "Danielle will solve the problem."

"This is Doctor Danielle Goldrick, the lead scientist on the Samothea Project?"

"Yes."

"Sister to Ezra Goldrick, the re-discoverer of the planet Samothea?"

"Yes."

"Who is currently on Earth selling mining rights to Samothea and land in its arctic zones for industrial development?"

"Ezra would never do that," Hazel said.

"My informant works for a mining company that Mr. Goldrick has approached in London."

"Ezra might do it if Madam Gloria and the Advisory Council permit it," Wildchild said.

"But Outworld Ventures is the legal owner of Samothea, isn't it," Viktor said. "And Ezra Goldrick was their paid agent. Does he not still work for them, not for whomever you said - Madam Gloria and the Advisory Council?"

This was a disturbing question and the girls had no answer. They signed to each other:

"Do you think it's true?" Hazel asked.

"No, I trust Ezra," Wildchild replied. "There's an error or a good explanation.

"Might your source in the mining company be mistaken?" Hazel asked out-loud.

"Certainly. He was not actually in the meeting with Mr. Goldrick, so it's only rumours he's repeating. In the febrile environment of a trading floor, dealers try to outwit each other by second-guessing their moves, sometimes using gamesmanship by deliberately spreading false stories or by bidding up the price of goods they don't actually want just to make their rivals overspend. Anything might be true."

"But," Viktor went on, "what persuades me that the report might be true is how specific it is: mining rights on the planet's surface and industrial land in the arctic regions. Also, if the report is true, then it is certain that Ezra is acting with legal power. The company he approached is very prestigious and rich, with an extremely valuable reputation to uphold. Everything will be kosher and done by the book."

"Why would a company buy land in the arctic regions for industrial development?" Hazel asked.

"Robots," said Viktor. "Factories are manned mostly by industrial robots. They don't care how hot or cold it is, so factories are built on the cheapest land available. It's a little odd in this case because Samothea doesn't have a big enough population or a developed infrastructure to justify building industry in the polar regions. The transportation costs will be a burden."

"X-rays," said Wildchild. "The angle of incidence of the x-rays is highest at the poles, so their intensity is lowest."

"And the x-rays stop electronic devices working on Samothea," Viktor said. "Very good, Sam. So the question is: knowing Ezra Goldrick, do you think I should tell my friend in London to invest in Ezra's project?"

"He should definitely invest," Wildchild said.

"What do you think, Hazel?" Viktor asked.

"I don't know but Sam is usually right."

"I thank you both for you advice and will consider it carefully," Viktor said with a smile and a small bow. "Now, that's enough business. Allow me to show you our humble space station. There's much to see on a walking tour that casual visitors might miss."

He heaved himself up, panting a little.

"I thought your doctor warned you against exercise," Hazel said.

"I have two doctors, Hazel, and the better one says I must exercise or he will refuse to repair me when extravagance overwhelms my constitution. It is a burden but to escort you two will count as a week's vigorous activity for me. Shall we go?"

The girls obediently followed. They had nothing else to do while Tatiana was incapacitated. Also, the fat man fascinated them.

From the Merchant Hall, they took the moving walkway that ran around the rim of the space station's great wheel, stopping off whenever Viktor found an interesting sight to show the girls. There was a park with real trees and flowers, a zoo, attractive buildings in ancient and modern styles and an impressive water feature in the courtyard of a hotel that used the Coriolis effect to make wonderful patterns with coloured fountains. Viktor was proud of the space station. The girls caught his enthusiasm, impressed by anything that was new or unusual.

They stopped for refreshments at a colourful market, which had simple cafes among the stalls for fruit and vegetables, clothes, footwear and costume jewellery. Their progress toward the cafe was interrupted when two high-pitched girlish voices cried out:

"Viktor! Viktor Petrovich!"

Two petite pretty Chinese girls, beautifully dressed, and holding up full shopping bags, came running toward them, giggling and happy.

"Oh, no!" Viktor exclaimed. "It's the bloodsuckers. Hide me!"

That was the funniest thing Hazel and Wildchild had ever heard. They burst out laughing and did not try to shield Viktor, who was the size of five women from Samothea. How could they conceal such a bulk?

As Hazel and Samothea hid only their guilty laughter, the thin Chinese girls caught up with Viktor and made a huge fuss of him, reaching up on tip-toe to kiss his cheeks. They opened their bags, demanding he admire their purchases.

"Yes, yes, very fine and all of them great bargains. Now give me some space, ladies. I have two new friends to introduce to you."

The Chinese girls turned to greet the girls from Samothea.

"Hazel, Sam: this is Jia-Li, my housekeeper, and Hui-Yin, my cook."

"He always mixes us up," said the woman he introduced as Hui-Yin. "I'm Jia-Li, his cook."

"He does it on purpose," said the other with a little bow. "I'm Hui-Yin, his housekeeper."

As Hazel and Wildchild introduced themselves to the gorgeous girls, delicate like porcelain dolls, Hazel signalled to Wildchild:

"Bedmates?"

"He'd squash them," Wildchild signalled back.

"Or split them," Hazel signed, smiling.

As his staff got to know his new friends, Viktor's communicator buzzed. He checked a message.

"Alas, I must leave you all," he said.

He addressed Hui-Yin and Jia-Li:

"Will you take care of my friends for me? We were on our way for some refreshment. Afterward, continue the tour of the space station, if you please, and bring them home for dinner."

"We will need housekeeping money," Hui-Yin said.

"And money for food," Jia-Li.

"More money?"

"Do you wish me to present your household at its most magnificent?" Hui-Yin asked.

"Do you want the best food and wine at dinner?" asked Jia-Li.

"See how they gang up on me?" Viktor protested to Hazel and Wildchild, his arms outstretched. "I'm a mere babe in their hands."

He handed over a credit stick to his housekeeper, saying:

"You girls will ruin me."

"You talk too much, Viktor Petrovich," said Hui-Yin. "Remember the proverb: fat old men must work ..."

"... so pretty young women can shop. Yes, I know," he said, sighing. "Which is why this fat old man must deprive himself of his present charming company and cheat other fat old men out of their money. Do you know how much I have spent on you two?"

"Not as much as you've spent in us," Hui-Yin said, to a giggle from Jia-Li.

"On that note, I take my leave. Hui-Yin, I engage you to entertain my lovely new friends. Find them a hotel room and make sure they come to dinner."

He bowed to all four women and waddled away, panting as he went.

Jia-Li and Hui-Yin took Hazel and Wildchild by the hands and pulled them into the clothes market looking for evening gowns. When the girls protested against spending Viktor's money, Jia-Li said:

"He has too much money."

"Besides," Hui-Yin added, "if Viktor wants beautiful company at dinner, then he must pay for it."

Hui-Yin and Jia-Li would not accept a refusal. They found silk dresses in the Chinese style: red and gold for the blonde Hazel; white with a turquoise flower pattern for Wildchild to set off her bright green eyes and black hair. Refreshments in the cafe afterward were welcome. The finale of the tour took them to the poshest shop on Argus, perhaps the poshest shop anywhere outside Earth.

It was a jeweller that specialised in rare natural gems that Prospectors found on only the remotest moons or asteroids under the most dangerous conditions. Hazel and Wildchild knew something about that, so they were fascinated by the variety of stones on display in the store, especially Hazel, who, as a student of geology, was learning about minerals and gemstones.