Going Once, Twice, Sold! The audience erupted into applause! The auctioneer paused briefly as an assistant rushed up to him and whispered in his ear. The auctioneer nodded and a few moments later, over the still talkative crowd, he announced with hands outstretched in welcome. “We’d like to welcome the winner of today’s ship auction, Mr. Clark Tenson!” A small party approached the podium. Led by a middle aged man with silver-blond hair, in a trim suit and broad smile. He was flanked by a few bodyguards as well as the suave spaniard Carmen. The auctioneer at the podium gave way, gracious at the absurd amount of money which had just been spent.

“I am happy to announce that this Xanza Scout is part of a series of expansions that we are making into Cosmos. In the coming months and years Eris Industries intends to make ships like this one part of our growing line of products.” He gave a broad smile to a wide applause, he only briefly enjoyed the adulation before placing his hand and ring on the ship, absorbing it completely.

Mr. Tenson then departed as swiftly as he came. While a pair of officious looking men in black suits followed his party. As they passed through the exit doors, into the quiet hallway Mr. Tenson's smile fell away into disgust. “Carmen, I want you to find out who drove up the price of my ship!”

“Yes sir, I’ve already a few names in mind from the pre-auction social.”

“Good, I want you to make sure they pay for every single credit they cost me!”

Carment didn’t need to ask his employer for details. “I’ll do my best sir, though I suspect it may have been Callisto Corp, at the direction of Shelley Cordata, daughter of... ”

“I know who her father is Carmen” He replied tersely, “And that doesn’t matter, you’ll just need to be more conscientious of your timing, that’s all.” He straightened, subtly dropping the subject and looking at Carmen with the corner of his eye. “You mentioned you might have a lead on a VE generator?” As if having answered his own question, he continued, “Do what you need to to acquire it, we’re going to need a more reliable source of vervetic energy besides our friends.” He entered into an open elevator and turned around to face Carmen, stopping him from following. “And tell those busy bodies from Obelisk to stop pestering me.” Moments later the doors shuttered closed, leaving Carmen alone to address the two men in dark suits making their way toward the elevator.

***

In their private auction box, Alan couldn’t help but notice his companions seemed somewhat shaken at the results. Mr. Jakes hands tremble as Clark Tenson took the podium. He seemed to grow sick as Mr. Tenson claimed the prestigious ‘win’ at the auction while also advertising the power of Eris. Ms. Cordata, Alan observed, had gone deathly pale. She wouldn’t be taking home a Xanza Scout Ship back to Callisto Corporation today.

Not wanting to pry, but seeing his new business partners in such distress Alan spoke up, “I can’t help but notice that you seem especially disappointed at the final item.”

There was silence for a few moments, before the more seasoned Mr. Jakes spoke up. “Well, you might have noticed that we’d prepared considerable resources today in order to purchase the ship. Unfortunately, no one was really prepared for the embargo, and didn’t really anticipate that we’d lose out on the chance to get the only Earth Enabled one available.”

Ms. Cordata spoke meekly, “As part of our research and development for space ships, we were hoping to reverse engineer the components here on Earth, so we could make some of our own designs. Apparently, we weren’t the only ones with that in mind.”

Trying to be helpful, Mr. Jakes’ assistant spoke up, “Perhaps you could purchase a ship in Cosmos and do your research there?”

Mr. Jakes responded patiently. “We’d like to, but it would require being able to buy a ship, which, as a new species, has some significant restrictions in Cosmos. Shipbuilders are very protective of their designs and production. Oftentimes it's a matter of intense security. If I were to buy a ship on a planet, and someone discovered I was taking it apart for research, which they likely would. At best I would be thrown into a deep dark dungeon, at worst I would likely be frozen in suspended animation or permanently banned from Cosmos.”

Ms. Cordata then chimed in. “Every ship has complex security systems to protect them from this type of thing. If I had the resources of an entire planet I might be able to successfully bypass it and avoid retribution in Cosmos, but unfortunately, we’d only be lucky enough to rent a moderate research facility there.”

The assistant spoke up again, “So what was so special about the Xanza Scout, doesn’t it have the same restrictions? Won’t Eris face similar problems.”

This time Alan decided to speak up, he felt it was time for him to join the conversation. “The way I see it, Xanza, doesn’t have a presence here on Earth. So they can’t put us in prison for stealing their tech, besides, the fact that it was for auction here, probably means that the technology isn’t all that impressive in Cosmos.”

“Precisely” Ms. Cordata jumped in, “The Xanza tech is only a few steps off from our own. Not only does that mean we can likely bypass their securities, but it means we more than likely can understand its production!” She smiled at Alan, seeing that he understood their situation. “One of the reasons we so desperately wanted the Xanza Scout was because of its basic design. Even if I could dismantle an entire ship, it wouldn’t give me insight into how every part was produced.” Turning to the now thoughtful assistant she explained. “You might be able to hold a microchip in your hand, but have no idea how it was made.”

The assistant nodded at this point and seemed to grasp the weight of the situation. She retreated a few steps, no longer pressing her point.

“Bryan” Ms. Cordata seemingly over her melancholy spoke to Mr. Jakes. “The way I see it, we’ll have to see if any one has purchased any ship parts from Cosmos, dismantle those, and see if we can incorporate into some of our existing designs.”

He nodded, “I’ll start advertising right away, even second hand parts, as long as they are here on Earth, could give us a lot of insights.”

“Not only that but, we’ll need to see if they are willing to buy using credits. We’ve spent a large chunk of our discretionary funds at this point, ” She started talking a little, the frustration of the situation starting to show itself.

“It may be a problem. Especially if Eris has the same idea. Though to be honest, I doubt it. Rumor has it that space flight is only one of the areas they are trying to invest in. My guess is they’ve spent a lot of money in all sorts of areas....”

Mr. Jakes’s assistant coughed, interrupting their discussion and gestured to Alan. Both of them paused, slightly embarrassed.

“Perhaps Alan,” Mr. Jakes, or Bryan, as Ms. Cordata mentioned, “We could meet again at another time, to discuss VE in the future.” He offered graciously.

Alan however, after listening to both their current problem and their proposed solution, had finally come to a conclusion. He’d been wondering how he was going to draw the right kind of people to Kragga. Initially, he was going to recruit mostly family and friends, and expand from there. However, that process was likely going to be a lot slower than he wanted. If he was going to succeed, he’d likely need to be more ambitious. The risks were greater, but so were the rewards.

“I’m wondering Mr. Jakes, if I might be able to offer a different solution to your predicament.” Alan hesitated, choosing his words carefully. “I recognize that you might be able to find a few key parts among all the players who’ve gone to Cosmos, but that might be a tad risky with your current plans, as there are likely very few parts available, and those that are, are unlikely to be of use.” Alan, having heard of Callisto Corp in the past, knew that though they built ships, it wasn’t until after the embargo that they started to produce any ships for purchase on Earth. Effectively, a non-entity in the market, when other ships could be purchased from Cosmos directly.

Ms. Cordata snapped, “So what do you think we ought to do? I know it’s a long shot, but it's the only shot we have. We are literally decades, if not a century behind what the Xanza Scout can do technology wise.”

“I get it, and I want you to succeed. But from what I understand, you are in need of three things.” He paused for emphasis. “You need access to Ships, preferably those which may be close in technology to our own. You need a safe place to research to avoid formal organizations and planetary governments. And you need Vervetic Energy in order to test and run your ships.”

She nodded skeptically.

“What if I were to tell you that I have a way to give you access to all three of those needs.”

“I would say ‘Where are my ice skates, because it looks like hell has frozen over.’”

“Shelly.” A stern Mr. Jakes interjected. “Please excuse Ms. Cordata it’s been a long day. Please continue.”

Alan only grinned at her remark. “I’ve come into ownership of a large collection of ships, though not fully functional, many of them have well maintained systems which are still working. Perfect for the kind of research you would like to do. Many of them, with a little help, might be able to fly with little to no repairs.”

Shelly seemed to see through Alan’s pleasant description and cut right to the heart of it. “Are you talking about some sort of scrapyard? Pretty much a dump?” Her tone was dangerous.

“More like a potential salvage operation. Ships in good condition, which needed to be abandoned for one reason or another.” His answer didn’t seem to lessen the sharpness in her eyes.

“So, how are we to study those ships? I mean won’t the local government have a problem with us studying them? I would hate to get between them and a treaty?” Bryan Jakes continued the conversation putting down any other argument.

“That's the beauty of it. The planet is unclaimed, abandoned by any formal organization a long time ago. The way I see it, we can do our research, with none the wiser. My guess is, many of those ships are so long forgotten and they aren’t even protected by anyone.”

“Hmm...I hadn’t thought of that as even a possibility, using an abandoned location. Even if we were to buy a new ship, and travel to an abandoned planet, most ship models have ways of ‘letting’ their manufacturers know they are being researched, or worse may even try to self-destruct. What you're proposing will simplify the process greatly”

“If you can get past the fact that they're literally garbage.” Ms. Cordata said half-heartedly, begrudgingly admitting that what Alan was offering wasn’t as bad as she had initially thought. Mr. Jakes attempted to hide a brief eye roll as she continued. “It still doesn’t explain how you will help us with our third problem. I know you have a fairly large supply of VE, but on an abandoned planet it’s unlikely we are going to find a surplus of energy. We’ve been trying to buy whatever surplus we can since the embargo, and I’m not sure we’ll be able to run experiments for a few months. Not to mention the amount of resources it will take to relocate and set up a research facility. Unless of course you happen to have a state of the art research facility on hand too?”

Alan shook his head, at which point she humphed contentedly.

“However,” Alan offered somewhat courageously, “I may have a reliable source of Earth-enabled VE which could go a long way to support your research...It’s only if you’re interested of course.”

At his admission Ms. Shelley Cordata dropped all her reservations and exclaimed, “You have the ability to produce VE!? Are you serious? And it’s Earth enabled, is that how you have such a large supply?”

Instead of answering her question, Alan purposely turned to Mr. Jakes instead. “I know it seems like a long shot, but if you're willing, you can easily send someone in a day or two to check out my current salvage area while the planetary transfer is still active to see what I have to offer. If you don’t like what you see, we don’t deal. If, on the other hand, you like my offer we can negotiate so everyone gets what they want.”

Instead of responding, Mr. Jakes surprisingly looked toward Ms. Cordata, as if looking for approval. Slightly confused, Alan looked in her direction. Her arms were folded, clearly, agitated.

“Perhaps I didn’t fully introduce myself, I’m Shelly Cordata” putting great emphasis on her name, “President of Callisto Corporation.”

Alan let that sink in. In his timeline, an older gentleman had been the president of Callisto. Never a beauty who seemed to be fresh out of high school. The pieces began to fit together. His confusions must have been obvious as she continued.

“My father owns the parent company, and he’s left me in charge of Callisto. We’ve already been exploring spaceflight engineering for the last few years. However, since Cosmos opened we’ve shifted much of our assets into exploring the technology present there.” She beamed with pride.

“Ah...well excuse me Ms. Cordata, I uh didn’t…”

She cut him off. “Alan, the way I see it is that your plan has potential. But I’m not willing to risk everything Callisto has worked for on a backwater garbage heap. That being said, if what you advertise is true, then I will happily do business to have access to your salvage.”

Alan nodded in agreement.

“What I am interested in though, is how much VE you have right now. Regardless of whether your planet is as good as you say it will have to wait. I need VE just to help Callisto maximize the assets it's already purchased. I need 200 VE a day for the next 30 days.”

Alan nearly choked. His personal mutation was able to produce nearly 200 units a day all on his own, but he wasn’t ready to make that kind of commitment. And didn’t she just say they had used all their discretionary assets?

“All right Shelley. I can appreciate your need for energy, however I’m willing to provide Callisto with up to 100 VE units a day at your current offer of $200 for 1 VEU for the next month.” Alan knew that the prices of VE would shift dramatically over the next month growing more in demand. In his past life, as the scarcity grew near the end of the embargo, and before energy could be reliably produced, energy costs were close to $500 per 1 VEU.

She immediately counter offered. “Alan, how about this. If you could raise it to 150 VEU. I’ll pay in advance $200 for each unit for the first 30 days, as well as throw in 30,000 in credits.”

Alan needed the cash and the extra credits would be needed if he was going to pull off the bold proposition he’d just made so quickly.

“It’s a deal.”

Bryan and his assistant provided the contract. There was strong language emphasizing confidentiality of both Alan’s production of VE and his potential salvage planet. He’d sell the 1300 VEU, storage devices and 150 Units of VE a day, over the course of 30 days for $1,200,000 and 30,000 credits. Seeing an opportunity, and offering to adjust the deal Alan proposed to take credits for $200,000 at a rate of 1 credit for 4$, instead of the 1 for $5, as Callisto was likely in need of cash more than credits.

In the end he walked away with 1 Million Dollars and 80,000 Credits. He was beyond pleased. He’d done it. A million dollars by day 7.