Morse Right

Lion started to get worried. When the payment was five days late, he took a deep breath and went to Starlight Antiquities.

Mr. Zarkaries met him there with a big smile.

“What can I do for you, Mr. Lion, the young?” the short old man had asked.

“Mr. Zarkaries, I have not received the payment for… what we agreed for, you know…”

“Oh, that. That’s why you came here? And I thought you wanted to leave money with me, you know, to earn you interest.”

“No, no, I’m sorry Mr. Zarkariess.”

“Zark. Didn’t I tell you just to call me Zark. Mr. Zarkaries is so… official and it just sounds as if we do not know each other. And I think that is just not right. I mean, we do know each other and should use the names that recognize that. For example, did I ever tell you how I had a friend named Matttherows. And guess what I called him? Yeah, it was Matt, and we…”

The short old man went to talk and talk, talk of things Lion cared to hear nothing. But he obediently listened. And at the first chance he could, which was like ten minutes in the conversation, he said, “Mr. Zark, please, I need that money, just like we agreed.”

“Oh, of course. Five hundred credits…”

“No, it was eight hundred, sir.”

“Oh, really? I could have sworn it was five hundred.”

“No, sir. I have a…” He was going to say a recording. But would it be polite and shrewd to say that he recorded their conversation?

“What is it that you have?” Zark asked suspiciously.

“I have a really good memory. It was eight hundred.”

“Well, if you say so. I believe you. That’s what friends do to each other. Eight hundred it is then. And you’re sure you do not want to keep them with me so to earn you interest?”

“No. You see I really need it.”

“Okay. Well,” the old man said and then flicked and pressed a few screens on his comm. "This should do it. The credits should be there."

“Thank you, Mr. Zark,” Lion said, feeling all happy, as he saw his bank account richer for those eight hundred credits.

“Well, I’m glad we could help each other.”

Something else was bothering Lion, the worries on his face not really going away. He was not quite sure how to proceed, but in the end, he just spilled it out. “By the way, Mr. Zark, do you, by any chance know anything about my father?”

“Why, why would I know anything about your father?”

“I mean, sometimes he works for you, and, he was supposed to arrive yesterday, and we are not even able to communicate with him.”

“Well,” the old man said and then rubbed his chin, picking his words carefully. “I have not heard anything from your father. But I don’t think you need to worry. I’m sure he’ll be home soon, really soon.”

“Okay, then,” Lion said and turned around to leave.

“I have one small favor to ask, young Mr. Lion.”

“What is it?”

“There is really no need to tell your father nothing about this… our dealings, I mean.”

Lion face washed with relief. “Yes, I was hoping that it could stay that way, just between us.”

“Why, why is that?” The old man suddenly grew suspicious.

“Well, you know…”

“No, I don’t know, son. Tell me. Please.”

“Well, you are always so nice to me, and to my mom. Always had been. But my dad…”

“What about your dad?”

Lion suddenly felt trepped, nowhere to go. Except say the truth, like his father always told him to. “He, he made me promise him something.”

“Yes? What?”

“He made me promise him that no matter what… I’d never work for you.”

The old man chuckled. “Well, then it’s good that he won’t know nothing about our deals.”

“Deals?”

“Sure, when I have some extra work, I’ll send it your way. I see you are a very capable young man. Very trustworthy. And I, to tell you in all honesty, really like you a lot. So, no real need for someone else to make money if you can do it just as well."

“Thank you, Mr. Zark , I really appreciate that. Thank you.”

The old man shook his extended hand and gave him a grandfatherly smile.

Then, after Lion had made it through the front door, he muttered to himself. “No, thank you, Mr. Maaarvenixious Junor. If you only knew how special you are...”

***

Jammie had a similar problem as Lion did, just for a different amount. When she was not getting paid for a whole week, she spent a quiet morning in the Maintenance basement, meditating and thinking, and went to see the owner of Starlight Antiquities around noon.

After exchanging pleasantries with the old man, matching his smile and witty comments, she cleared her throat and said with a smile on her face.

“It’s really pleasant talking to you, but you are seven days late in paying the fee for services rendered.”

It seemed that suddenly someone had informed the old man that his only son or daughter have passed away. He frowned and looked confused. “What fees?”

“We agreed. Hundred thousand credits. For each spying ball I fixed up. We shook our hands on it.”

It was as if something got stuck inside the old man’s throat, his eyes bulged out. “What?”

“I turned over five of them, in perfect state, fully programable according to your specifications. So, you owe me five hundred thousand credits.”

“Wait a second, young lady!” the old man said, raising his voice. “You two!” he said looking at the two unlucky customers who wondered in a store checking out some old wooden furniture.

“Get out of here, we’re closed!”

“But…” they tried to protest.

“Get out of here! Before I call security!” he screamed at them and then locked the front door after then.

“You, you… young lady! You're out of your mind!” the old man screamed at her, pointing his finger at her, shaking it. “Five hundred thousand credits?! Do you know how much money that is??? You could buy a whole old freighter for that amount!”

Jammie expected nothing less from the old man, and she locked her temper out, and politely answered. “I know it is a lot of money. But that is what we agreed on.”

“I never agreed to pay you half a million credits for some old… balls, that, that probably will not work tomorrow!”

You think by screaming at me, you will scare me???!! She wanted to scream that in his face, but instead, she politely smiled and said, “You agreed.”

“No, no, I did not!”

“You did not agree to one hundred thousand for a payment for me fixing those spy balls?”

“Shhhh… no need to use those words. And, yes, we waggly mentioned that amount, but… but that was for the whole box of them. And in the end, you fixed, what… only five of them? So, actually, then, I owe you, what? Five out of hundred, oh, yes. Twenty-five thousand credits. Still a space track robbery.”

Jammie smiled and shook her head, “No, no, twenty-five thousand credits, Mr. Zarkeries, if I can call you that. Don’t know your true name, although, some people would wonder about that…”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“Nothing, nothing. Like some people you know,” Jammie said, looking at the old man. “Some people would think why would someone need to have the most sophisticated spying devices like those balls. And then those people would search a little bit more about the whole thing. And then those people, not me of course, but they would find a lot of interesting information about those balls. For example, you know, you know why they do not produce them anymore, do you?”

“I-”

“They stopped making them because the Union military cannot design a technology to be able to track those little bastards. Imagine that? Imagine that! Their own technology! I mean, you probably do not know, but the genius who made them seems to have disappeared from the whole wide universe.

"And, yes, now the whole Union military cannot find a way to track them, meaning… you can fly one of those little balls through ventilation sheds, through sewage lines and morph them into a wall, or a floor, or a chair, or a ceiling, or whatever you want… Oh, yes. They may look metallic, but they are capable to duplicate any material you can come up with. I know that. And so do you.

"So then… voila! You can hear and see anything that is happening inside the targeted area without the target ever knowing you are there! The perfect spying tool. You could fly one to the battleship and find out exactly what they were doing there, or to some secret military or political meeting. The would could be yours. The information you could have!"

“I-”

“One of them!” Jammie said sharply, raising her finger up as to show what one might actually represent. “One of them is worth millions on the black market. I. Gave. You. Five. Now, Mr. Zarkeries, or whatever your real name is… Please, pretty please. Can you please pay for the services rendered?”

The old man took a deep breath and then said, “Nice speech. A bit dramatic, but… nice.”

Then he gave her his old smile. “But if you think I have five hundred thousand credits to give it to you…”

“Oh, no need to lie to me, Mr. Zarkeries."

The old man suddenly growled in anger. “I will never pay you five hundred thousand credits.”

“Oh, I think you will, Mr. Zarkeries. Because, some people, not saying it could ever be me, no, not me, but some people, you understand, they would, with the information like that, knowing that there was a whole stack of those illegal balls inside some old basement. They would definitely run to the Union Military or… even the black market profiteers. Such a piece of information is worth gold! Not that I would ever do something like that.”

“Your blackmail will not work,” the old man said suddenly very cold. “What else you have for me, because if that is all…”

Jammie almost lost it there, but she took a breath, smiled again, and laid her plan out. “Come on, Mr. Zarkeries. I can make multiple of that amount for you. You’re really ready to sever your ties with me, you're really ready to break your word…?”

“It was not my word…”

“It was your word, and now you’re ready to throw it all out, millions of credits that I could possibly make for you… for what?”

The old man’s eyes shone with deep and sharp rays, the smile resting again on his lips.

“What is it that you’re suggesting?”

“You know what I’m suggesting. The same thing that you want to ask me to do but do not want to. Do not want to. So, ask, and let’s stop playing these… games.”

“I do not know what you mean.”

“You took me down to the basement for a reason. Not to brag about things that you have. You wanted to take me down, to show me things. All those old electronics, all broken up. You wanted me to see them. And then, what happened? Did my eyes light up when I saw it? Did you detect that I got all excited? Well, so, what is your deal, old man?”

The old man's smile turned to chuckle. “I have no idea what you're talking about.”

“You want to continue to play these games because my offer is… only good now!” Jammie said suddenly with vigor and anger she wanted to avoid. “I can burn you down and everything you have, and you know it. But I won’t do it because… there is just so much money that can be made here.”

“You, young lady are delirious, I have no desire or plan to work with you-”

“Is that really true? Like that broken ancient food replicator that is just gathering dust in your warehouse. Old spacers would pay hundred of thousand of credits for a model like that one.”

“And you could fix it?”

“You know I could. So, why don’t you ask me. Ask me, nicely, with the respect, the same one I give you.”

The old man nodded his head a few times and then said slowly. “Young lady, this may come as a complete surprise to you,” he started, staring her straight in the eyes. “But I really do not care for the money one little bit.”

“Good,” Jammie said readily. “Then pay my fees, and let me care for the money for you. I’ll make more than five hundred grand for you in less than a year. Or I’ll work for free.”

The old man said nothing to that, but at the same time, did not take his eyes off her.

“It’s either that, or I leave, and you never see me again.”

And you can keep your stinking 500 grand.

“Because… There are too many opportunities in this universe for me to lose my precious time with someone who cannot be logical, at least logical enough to recognize my talent and give me…”

“Fine, fine, fine,” the old man says. “Can you just, please, stop talking. You’re giving me such a headache.”