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Post by elizar on Nov 24, 2008 15:45:21 GMT -5
"And go for the rip-off the last?" Babel asked as she climbed on board.
"I do hope that we can avoid war." Aron said. "Or another Iraq war."
((I know I created Mark, but after your several references to him, I figured he had become NPC. Should I do him this round, or you?))
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Post by Evangeline on Nov 24, 2008 17:11:54 GMT -5
"Yeah, make him sweat just a little bit." Margo grinned.
"I really don't want to see that happening again." Rachel pursed her mouth corners. "It was bad in both universes, but the alternative was "worse".
<<< If you want to do him, go ahead. I have to go out for a few hours anyway >>>
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Post by elizar on Nov 24, 2008 17:28:49 GMT -5
Babel followed, with clipboard that had blank paper on it. While she still had some notorious spelling mistakes in her writing, she was still learning. Languages was one thing, writing another. She slammed her hand twice on Margo's side, barely enough to sting, but enough to resonate through her frame. It was an common indicator that it was okay to go, everyone was secure.
"Too bad so few saw it." Aron said. "A nation plunging into chaos, we had to go help them stabilize, then the caldera decided to throw a little plot twist into reality. At first, I was not happy about the idea that Al Din will still be steering the titanic, but if we do enough stuff behind the curtains, we may be able to avoid the iceberg."
"Hello Zoe." Mark said, then followed Zoe's indication towards Stefán.
"Hello, my name is Stefán. Zoe told me you may be interested in some relics."
"Well, not me." Mark Harmon smirked. "But my university or any other may be, what do you have?"
Stefán rubbed the back of his neck. "I've got some ten-year collection of stamps published in Iceland pre-blowup. Some without stamps, some with unimportant stamps."
"Well, not the motherload relic that one would hope for, but there are some private collectors that could be interested. Most of the human relics brought fifteen years ago is still in the human possession. Some of them were sold during misc financial crises. Few 'upside down jenny' were sold during that time."
"Never heard of that." Stefán admitted. "But the stamps I have, have been kept in good condition, sealed in envelopes and in other envelopes and kept in a dry place. I would be happy to off-load it to gain some capital, instead of sitting on it. It's currently just about worthless here, no one rich and interested enough to buy for the asking price."
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Post by Evangeline on Nov 24, 2008 21:27:49 GMT -5
"I think you would have several options on the other side, Stefan." Zoe spoke up. "Dealers of collectibles, auction houses and private brokers. I think they might want to see what you have."
"Might work if we keep it subtle." Rachel concurred. Over the private radio link that could only be heard through a headset, she added. "Eventually, what Babel knows may be helpful there."
Margo shifted up to first and moved out to the distant gate, where people were already queuing up at the guardhouse. They passed Misty, who waved a blade in their direction.
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Post by elizar on Nov 24, 2008 21:41:13 GMT -5
"Yeah, but I can't just up and leave." Stefán said. "Could either of you act as my proxy?" He asked.
"I'm sorry." Mark shook his hood slowly. "I don't have any experience with that kind of dealing. I may know few, but I don't know them enough to know if they can be trusted. And most proxies would negotiate for a cut of the fee."
"You may not be made out of wood - " Aron said and knocked twice on Rachel. So far, Babel hadn't been speaking much. A second meeting was being arranged as reports came to Wellington that she was speaking more openly about what happened to her.
"The first one is in the Per-fect-ion farm." Babel said as she read from the sheet. "For some reason George was thinking about giant worms in the ground named Graboids as she saw that name."
((I love Tremors, I think it shows.))
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Post by Evangeline on Nov 24, 2008 21:50:08 GMT -5
"I would suggest talking to Elena or Julian." Zoe said. "They're the people who can actually travel over the divide and take things and people with them. Julian's here and can communicate with his mother about it, and she probably knows who to call there."
"I appreciate the vote of confidence." Rachel responded.
Margo rolled her eyes. "Giant worms? Dare I ask?" She pulled up at the gate and waved her antenna to a guard to let the vendors in.
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Post by elizar on Nov 24, 2008 22:04:54 GMT -5
"Ah, and what would they be? Boat, car, aircraft or maybe a fourth option?" Stefán asked.
Aron chuckled and helped with readjusting the form.
"Beats me." Babel said. "You go first, I may have observed diplomacy for a long time, but that was in the large scale business, not like this."
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Post by Evangeline on Nov 24, 2008 22:16:38 GMT -5
"You can watch." Margo opened the rear cab door. "It's sort of like market haggling, but with larger amounts." She glanced at the clipboard and called out. "Perfection Farm?"
The other workers worked at re-adjusting and re-winching the sections into place, closing any gaps that might have resulted as the swelling of the wound site went down. Clyde was on the bottom of the drydock, inspecting the shunt coupling and what was being drained through it, and happy to find no signs of infection. "Looks like we did everything right."
"They travel all kinds of ways, but by sea is the best way to get the largest amount of people and stuff across." Zoe explained. "As for who does business on the other side, there are literally all kinds."
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Post by elizar on Nov 24, 2008 22:34:21 GMT -5
As the negotiation and haggle for prices went on, Babel's attention drifted a bit. She had soon gotten enough sense of value, and swiftly had gone off to do the same thing she had done for Al Din, getting a sense of when they were just making mass profit of them, or when they made a profit that benefited them, though not enough to make them live in riches for a while.
"That's good." Aron said to Clyde. "Now what you got to do is to write a medical article about doing a trauma operation in a whole different world."
"Wait, so they are not one of you?" Stefán asked. He had assumed they were of the CV world.
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Post by Evangeline on Nov 24, 2008 22:52:13 GMT -5
"It has already been suggested to me." The forklift laughed. "I think the folks who pitched in here would definitely get a good mention."
"They are from another world-plane altogether." Zoe nodded. "There are lots of these, just not so many that humans can relate to. Their realm is called "Amber", and those of royal blood, once they jump through a few rather hazardous hoops, can travel between the "shadows", as they call the different timelines. They can also draw in other people with them as long as they follow within line of sight. It's not so easy between here and the CV, though. The shortest route is through an ice-age like world, which is where the taurcats come from. Depending on geographical distance and correspondence, the trip can take anywhere from a few days up to two weeks."
Margo had a keen mind for estimating wholesale value and profit margins for farmers, and settled at a price that gave the farmer enough of a profit above cost to keep him coming back, but still reasonable enough to keep the balance sheets healthy. The load was mainly unsightly or overripe, but still usable for cooking purposes. A forklift and two locals unloaded the crates onto pallets and took them off to the kitchen once the load was signed for and payment had been rendered. The documentation would then go into the books. At the kitchen, Shayla had already set up some hidden wards to detect any signs of contamination or tampering.
"Tangoa Farm." Margo called out the next farmer. She glanced back towards Babel to see if the girl was getting a sense of what was taking place.
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Post by elizar on Nov 25, 2008 10:17:49 GMT -5
"Okay, so we got carverse, this world, ice age and Amber." Stefán said. "Any more worlds you are interacting with?"
"Give credit where credit is due." Aron said. "This is also the strangest team I've seen. Welders, nurses, mechanics and doctors, all working on the same case."
"That's him." Babel said as he approached.
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Post by Evangeline on Nov 25, 2008 14:59:57 GMT -5
"I've been to a few others with Julian, but most of them would definitely be too alien for most people's taste." Zoe recalled the rather repulsive things that tried to eat them during the mile-eating "hops" to Baghdad. "Once to Amber itself, for a formal introduction to the court. You could cut the tension of the family politics there with a knife. But it was a great excuse to dress like a Renaissance princess."
"They got along surprisingly well." Clyde laughed. "Those of the nurses who were still single are dating the welders now."
Margo nodded, going out to meet the approaching human at an indirect angle, in the way that CV cars had learned to approach humans. "Morning, Mr. TeRaui."
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Post by elizar on Nov 25, 2008 16:00:08 GMT -5
"I would like to call that the period of silly clothes." Stefán said.
Aron couldn't do anything but laugh for a noticeable time. "I guess they hadn't even seen each other. Good think you are not a shrink too, or you would be attempting to figure out what brought them together."
"Hello Margo. I got fifteen kilograms of strawberries. Standard rates apply I assume?" TeRaui asked.
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Post by Evangeline on Nov 25, 2008 16:12:23 GMT -5
"You should hear what Julian calls it." Zoe smirked. "Renf*g" was the way he described it, which was very not-PC but for the first few years of his life, Elena had taken great pains to bring him up in other places, citing the near-toxic family atmosphere back home, though she admitted that it had improved somewhat with her cousin Corwin in charge.
"It's a matter of actually seeing them in the first place." Clyde said. "They don't normally come across each other unless some welder guy has an accident, and it was probably the first time most of those ladies met these guys when they weren't hurt and swearing up a storm in the ER."
Margo had deliberately positioned a few crates of strawberries from the previous delivery where the present vendor could see them. "Yes." She motioned towards the scales that had been set up at the gate to verify. That system had been in effect for about a week now.
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Post by elizar on Nov 25, 2008 16:28:32 GMT -5
Stefán nodded. "Anyway, if you are going to look for Steinþór, I can let you know where my trail got cold."
"You're probably right." Aron said. "I can't though see myself recovering from a welding accident here. They have pretty inadequate facilities."
TeRaui noticed the hinting and sighed. Now it was time to keep cool. "I guess you don't trust us anymore." He smiled jokingly.
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