A Shopping Trip

Posted on Mon Dec 14th, 2020 @ 4:26pm by Jonas Bailey & Chloe Waltz PhD
Edited on on Mon Dec 14th, 2020 @ 4:27pm

Mission: Fortune & Glory
Location: Priam Docks
Timeline: Day 17 Morning

Chloe held the shopping list in her hand.

She couldn't help but to be a bit nervous. Chloe didn't often go to new places by herself. She wasn't strong. She wasn't wise. She couldn't tell who trust. As determined as she was to make this a quick and efficient trip, she had concerns. One of those concerns was named Jonas. She didn't know the man's story - only what their captain had said and the captain had not said much beyond the fact that he was sent there to kill him. The two didn't seem to be enemies... then again, what did Chloe know? She had to try and trust him.

She took a deep breath. Sibyl wouldn't have put her in too much danger, right? She stood on the cargo ramp of the Echo, ready to go, glancing around at the other ships in the docks. She found a small comfort in their presence; she liked ships and she wondered about these ships. Where had they been? What repairs have they had? Where were they manufactured? Simple curiosity.

Jonas walked up alongside Chloe, but not too close. "Lots of ships out there, that's for sure," he said. "You ready?"

Lots of ships? Compared to the dockyards and places Chloe had seen on Londinium and in the Core, this would only be a small dock. Not even mentioning the shipyard where she spent so much of time. The fact that this would be considered a lot of ships made her feel small and far away. "I'm ready," she said, handing the shopping list back towards him. She was about to ask if he were ready - but then again, would he ask her if she were ready if he weren't ready? People were complicated. She decided to avoid the question.

"Nah, you keep the list," he said, waving his hand back towards here. "Besides, if I'm lookin' at that, I'm not lookin' around for bad guys." He smiled. She was a quiet one, it seemed. At least not much of a conversationalist so far. "You familiar with places like this?"

"Me?" Chloe looked over towards the larger man. Then again - who else would he be asking? They were alone. "No. Not really. Sometimes we'd stop in ports like this, but I'd stay on the ship. Especially recently. I was never the... negotiator type. No need for me to talk to the public." She shrugged, looking at the list one more time before putting it away in her pocket. She wasn't really the talkative sort - although she had to admit that Jonas's talking was better than him just walking quietly on while Chloe wondered whether or not he was actually an assassin.

"Well, that bein' the case then, I reckon you can tell me what we need off the list and I'll talk to the shop owners," he said. "If that set-up works for you, I mean." As they walked a little further towards the town, he went on. "So what do you on the ship that keeps you onboard when in port?"

"That would work. It's, uh..." Chloe pulled the now crumpled list out of her pocket to read it again. "Not very specific. Some food. A strawberry plant - not sure it's really the season for those in this hemisphere, but it wouldn't surprise me if Priam had some greenhouses or indoor farms," when talking about that Chloe seemed have a little more confidence. After all; she knew more about science and the natural world than she did about talking to people. "And, well, it just says something about veggies that are easy to grow. I wouldn't know which veggies are easy to grow. The closest thing to a crop plant I've grown myself is some Arabidopsis thaliana." Then she was quiet for a moment. Thinking about what she did back on the ship in Sibyl's employment only made her miss her job even more. "Research, mostly. I'd check up on the ship, make sure it was working like it was supposed to. That sort of stuff."

Jonas grinned and nodded. There was the talkative part. "Research and making sure the ship is working...sounds like a pretty important job. But, strawberries and veggies that are easy to grow, huh. Sounds like you're right on target about finding a greenhouse or indoor farm. Maybe some, and I'm just going off what I've heard, lettuce, tomatoes, radishes, or peppers. I imagine things like that'd be easy to grow in the ship." Jonas was no gardener, but he'd had to learn some basics about food when he was sixteen in order to fake his way on a ship. He still can't cook, but it seemed like the knowledge was coming in handy. "Now about thatArabidopsis what-ana," he said, knowing full well he'd butchered the pronunciation. "I have no idea what that is. Is it edible?"

"No. Not really. It's closely related to a lot of edible plants, but not edible itself. It's very simple plant; a common model organism in the lab. I suppose you could eat it, but it wouldn't taste good." He was right about one thing - it was an important job. At least, Sibyl made her feel like it was. Taking care a Firefly was one thing, and it had to stay running, but as opposed to doing her own research and taking measurements on a newly designed, fresh out of the shipyard beauty... Chloe barely refrained from frowning. "Is our Captain into gardening?" She had hardly met Alden, but he didn't strike her as the gardening type.

Jonas chuckled. "Not the last time I knew," he said. "I suppose he could have taken it up in the last several years. ...In his old age." He grinned at that the last little comment and wished that Alden had been around for it. "I don't know why he wants to try to grow fruits and veggies on the ship. Well, other than fresh foods. But it'll still take a long time to grow." He shrugged and looked over at Chole. "So what do you do on the ship?"

"I, well," Chloe shrugged as she walked. What exactly did she do? Oh, he was probably asking about what she generally did, not about specifics. "I'm an engineer, I've been fixing it up. 'specially after it being blown up back with Noah... Alden said you were... security?" Was that it? Was that what their captain had called him? "What did he mean by saying you were sent to kill him?" She finally asked directly, unable to hold in her curiosity any longer.

"Engineerin' can't be that bad I guess. And if bein' blown up is normal, you've got job security," he said. "But yeah, I reckon I'd fill a security spot pretty good." He pause a second, considering how to answer that question. "Well, he pretty much meant that. I was hired to kill the captain of a Firefly that landed at those coordinates. Didn't have a name or a description. When I saw it was Alden, I took my down-payment and quit that hire. Can't rightly kill somebody that you've been through hell and back with."

"Oh." Was being blown up normal for this ship? That was a terrifying thought. She... she didn't want to end up like Noah. Noah might have been running from things. From what Chloe heard, he had had a rough life with a lot of dead ends. Chloe still had so much she had to do in her life. Was it selfish to think that her death would be more of a tragedy? "So... were you a... hitman?" She asked the question tentatively, not sure if it would offend or endanger.

"Eh," he said, "call it what you want. But mercenary is the term I hear the most. Usually, it's whoever pays the best."

"Okay," Chloe responded, a bit uncertain of that answer. She slowed down as they reached a store. She was still half-thinking about Jonas. If he didn't seem to question this order except for the fact that he knew the guy... had many people had he killed? Would he have killed Chloe, if she'd been his target? What about Sibyl? What about Rachel? It was an uncomfortable thought, and for as kindly as Jonas seemed right now she almost felt guilty thinking it. "I think this store might have some of it."

"Some of it? Oh right, the list," said Jonas. He didn't usually volunteer information about his job. But when he was asked about it, he'd answer. Generally speaking, of course. Jonas opened the door and took a quick look around to make sure things were okay before walking in. "There," he said, pointing to the east wall, "young, potted plants. Might be some strawberry ones among them."

Chloe walked over to the plants. The store seemed a touch... less clean, yes that would be the polite way to put it... compared to the ones she had been so recently used to. Hell; she still had a shopping list on her fridge back at home. It would be dusty and obsolete by the time she got back to see. The thought made her frown, just slightly, now soured to the strange novelty of a store on Priam. But she wasn't about to not do her job. Slowly, the woman walked up towards the potted plants. "Are these strawberries? I can't say I've ever seen the plant without the fruit on it."

"Hey," Jonas called out to the shopkeeper, "are these strawberry plants?"

"These?" The shopkeeper turned around, eyeing the two potential customers. The two seemed an odd pair; almost opposites in appearance. The woman was small and pale, with tidy clothes and short trimmed hair. The man was large and tanned, with long locks and clothes that seemed much better suited to this sort of market. The shopkeeper wondered how they knew each other, and as he wondered he simply answered: "Yes. They're strawberries."

Chloe glanced over towards Jonas. In this case, she deferred to the man's experience. After all, she didn't like talking to strangers even in normal situations, much less such a strange dock such as this. The fact that Jonas had been the first one to talk to the shopkeeper seemed like a perfect excuse to stay quiet.

"Perfect," said Jonas. "That's one of the things we're looking for. How 'bout a price. What are we looking at?"

"Well, what can you pay?" The shopkeeper eyed the two. Perhaps of it were just Jonas, they wouldn't try to push this sale so hard, but the fact that he was travelling so obviously an offworlder as Chloe made him wonder if these two were likely to overpay.

Jonas tried hard to remember what one strawberry plant might have cost way back when he feigned being a cook, but it was hard. And he really didn't have any reason to have kept up on it. He knew how much they'd been given to shop with. And he knew what all they still needed to buy. Well, here goes, he thought to himself. "Well now let's see, I bet a man like yourself knows what he's got here. But you just might be willin' to help out a couple passin' through 'cause you asked what can we pay. I've got about nine credits and we could use two plants."

"You're looking for expensive plants for somebody with just nine credits," the shopkeeper chuckled, jovial despite the calculating look in his eyes. "I can do four credits each for them. Won't be four months till we get more strawberry plants in."

Chloe glanced over towards Jonas, silent. She wondered how much money they did have - Alden had given Jonas the credits, not her. She wondered exactly how well the two knew each other. Either way, she was uncomfortable with this haggling herself, and glad she wasn't in charge of it. Back on Londinium, most things had a set price.

Jonas smiled and slowly nodded. He looked from the shopkeeper to Chloe and back to the shopkeeper. "I think that'll work just fine for us," he said. "Anything for this one," he added with a wink. He really hoped that Chloe would pick up on his ruse and go along with it. Jonas reached into his pocket and pulled out the necessary credits, handing to them to man. "We really appreciate it. I know four months can be along time...." He trailed off as he looked back to Chloe. "These'll be just we need."

Chloe did not, in fact, pick up on his ruse but the effect was about the same. Her slight embarrassment from not understanding either his statement nor his wink made her blush, just enough for the shopkeeper to misinterpret said blush.

"Sounds good," the shopkeeper smiled in a charismatic, professional way that was almost more fit for a core world ship salesman, wasted on a little shop like this. He took the money, shoved it into his pocket, and handed two pots over towards Jonas: one in each hand. "A pleasure doing business with you."

Jonas took the two pots and nodded to Chloe before heading to the door. "Pleasure," he said to the shopkeeper. Once outside and down the road a bit, he said, "Sorry about that back there, Chloe. Still used to thinkin' on my feet. Next time, I'll have a plan before we go in. Just figured we'd get a better deal out of him if we played like we were together. Seemed to work, too."

"Okay," Chloe responded before she had really processed what he had said. And then, when she had: "Oh." It truly did not surprise her that she hadn't picked up on his little acting. Things like that weren't her strong suit. She was quiet for a moment, trying to think of what she could say that wouldn't make this awkward. "You seem pretty good at this," she finally commented.

Chloe's brief, and spaced-out, responses caught Jonas' attention as they continued walking. "Yeah, I've had a lot of practice at it. But...are you okay with it? You seem, I don't know, uncomfortable." If he made her nervous, it didn't matter too much to Jonas. He'd usually made some people nervous when he first met them.

"No, it's fine; I'm always like this." Chloe responded with a dismissive shrug. It wasn't anything Jonas did that made her uncomfortable; it was her own thick skull. "Was that a good price for the strawberries?" She asked, both changing the subject and genuinely curious.

"I think so," answered Jonas. "At least from I can remember. The last time I had anything to do with buying food was a long time ago. I imagine that the price has gone up since then and the fact that he'd have to wait until summer for more...they may have been on the high end." He shrugged. "But at least we have them. Now to find another shop or a greenhouse for the vegetables."

"How did you usually get food then?" Chloe asked as they walked. Back on Londinium, she had had food delivered, but she doubted they had such... infrastructure back wherever Jonas lived. Speaking of that - where exactly was Jonas from? "I mean, well," Chloe muttered, trying to put her question into words. "Where did you live? Before you joined this crew, that is."

Jonas chuckled a little. "I called Persephone home. Had a lot of other places that I lived for short periods of time. But Persephone was always where I kept a place. Still have it there, as a matter of fact. Didn't have the time to deal with it before this happened."

Chloe was quit for a moment thinking about Persephone. She had been to Persephone before - Persephone City, that is. From what she heard, that city and the others on the planet were quite different. She wondered which part of it Jonas was from, and almost felt a bit guilty assuming he was from the less "civilized" parts. "I've got a place on Londinium," Chloe finally responded, not sure what to say.

"Don't think I've ever been to Londinium," said Jonas. "But if you've got a place there, you must not be too used to life out here. You ever get out to the Border planets before?"

Chloe shrugged. "Technically yes. Sibyl - my old boss," she corrected herself, remembering that Jonas had never met the lady. "She has some factories on the border worlds. And sometimes we'd fly the ships out here for some stress tests. But I would just stay on the ship. I never went out into the markets or such, not like this. Londinium is still my home."

"Well," he said, chuckling, "welcome to the underside of the border worlds." He spread his hands, palms up, outward from his body and to the surrounding area. "It's not the greatest, but it's home." He looked around as they walked further into the town. "That looks like it might have the vegetables we're looking for...at least some of them."

"That?" Chloe asked, looking at the shops. She was used to the expansive, clean stores of Londinium. She wasn't entirely sure she trusted vegetables here. Did they grow anything on Priam? Besides strawberries or whatever. Chloe wasn't entirely sure. "Yeah," she said. "Let's see if they have it," she started walking towards the building. She wasn't quite sure how to respond to his little 'welcome'. She never was sure when people were being serious or not. The chuckling meant probably not, but it wasn't enough to go off of. "You'll probably have to do the talking, though."

"Yeah, that one," he said. "And I can do that, talk for us. Are you good with the same ruse as last time?"

"Sure," Chloe shrugged. She was not sure she would be good at any sort of ruse, but at least with this one acting shy and awkward seemed to play into it well enough. Besides - Jonas knew better than she did what they were doing, and if he suggested it, it was probably a good idea.

"Alright then," Jonas said, nodding his head, "let's get us some vegetable plants. Or at least some that can go to seed and be raised in a better place than this." He walked up to the door and opened it. "After you," he said to Chloe.

Chloe gave a shy nod and stepped through the door. She looked up at a small chain of bells that hung above the door and had rung when Jonas opened it. Now, Chloe understood the point of such, of course. But it was odd to see it. Such simple technology, doing something that would be done electronically back in a store on Londinium. Looking up at the bells though, gave her a bit of an air of somebody easily distracted.

The shopkeeper noticed such, setting down a rag he'd been using to wipe down a shelf when the customers entered to take a place just beside his desk. "How might I help you?" He asked them.

Jonas gave a half grin before answering. "We're looking for some vegetable plants," he said. "Bell peppers, radishes, tomatoes...maybe even some lettuce. I suppose seeds would work, too, if you have some of those. Be a might bit easier to carry those." He laughed a little at his last comment.

"We don't carry seeds here," the shopkeeper responded with a smile. He intentionally didn't bring up any offer of other places that might have seeds, though. "You've got expensive tastes in vegetables." The man glanced at the pair of them before stepping to the other side of the shop. "Radishes aren't too easy to find here. Green peppers, tomatoes, butterhead lettuce. Those I do got, but they ain't cheap." The man looked back, motioning for them to follow towards the back of the store. Chloe hesitated, sticking behind Jonas.

"Well maybe we can cut our order back a little," said Jonas. "Radishes could be a start." He followed the man towards the back of the store, but still kept a safe distance. "What kind of expensive are we talking about?"

The shopkeeper arrived at a small tub. It looked like it had once been a feeding trough, but it had been haphazardly converted to a hydroponics tank. Pieces of a foam board floated on top of nutrient solution, and from little holes in the board sprouted heads of lettuce, basil, mint. As with many things on these worlds, it was a strange mixture of new technology and old. While the plants looked mostly fresh, the very tips of the lettuce were browned and burned.

"I've got tomatoes and peppers in the back. These ones I grow myself. Fresh as you can get," the shopkeeper smiled. He seemed genuinely proud of the plants. Chloe followed behind Jonas, watching, more interested in the growing set up than in actually buying the plants. "Butter lettuce is four credits a head," the shopkeeper continued. That was a steep price, and if he were growing them himself: a steep profit margin, but the part about their freshness was true. "Mint and basil are seven credits for a full plant, or I'll sell you a few leaves for a credit."

The lettuce leaves didn't impress Jonas that much. He didn't know Daiyu well enough to know whether or not she could save the lettuce heads and do something with them. But then he wondered if that was just the result of how they'd been rigged up to grow. If he could get the man out of the room for a few minutes, he'd ask Chloe about the rig. "Can you bring out two or three tomato and pepper plants from the back." Jonas hoped that would give them enough time.

"I don't sell live plants, but I do have tomatoes and peppers. I'll go grab some," the shopkeeper said with another smile, and stepped away into the back, casting back only one glance to try and be sure the two were about to steal his wares. Chloe, on her part, looked at Jonas with a touch of confusion in her expression.

"Those lettuce leaves," he whispered. "We could use some lettuce, but I don't like the looks of those leaves. You're the engineer, could that be the result of they way they're grown?"

Chloe shrugged. "It might just be because of the airflow. Back when I was doing some experiments on plants, the agronomist I was working with was real picky about the air flow and air quality. It's pretty stagnant in this building. Then again, it might be the nutrients," she shrugged. "I'm an engineer, not a botanist. I'd still eat it though. The tips look bad, but the rest of the lettuce is pretty green. And if he can sell it with the roots, it will last longer."

"Thanks," said Jonas, nodding. So, a couple heads of lettuce with the roots...hopefully...and some tomatoes and peppers. Along with what we already have, that might do it." He took a quick glance around the area to see if there was anything else that caught his eye.

Chloe nodded. Frankly, she had low expectations of the food from out here. Sure, it was probably fresher than what she had on Londinium but it didn't, well, look as nice. It wasn't so uniform or sterile looking. As the shopkeeper returned with some tomatoes and peppers, they were all different shapes and sizes.

"Here's a few of the veggies I got," the shopkeeper said, approaching Jonas and offering the produce towards him. "I wasn't sure how much you wanted. If you like what you see, I can go back and grab some more."

Jonas took a tomato in one hand and a bell pepper in the other. He turned them over in his hand and slowly nodded. "These look good. We'll take six tomatoes, four red bell peppers, and two heads of your butter lettuce. With the roots."

"Excellent, excellent,," the shopkeeper said, stepping into the back to grab a small sackful of the veggies. He returned momentarily. "How does four credits sound for the bunch of them?" he asked, holding the partially full bag out.

Jonas thought it was a little high, but these were some of the freshest vegetables he'd seen in a long time. Except for the lettuce, but even that was eatable. And he was paying for their roots, too. Not to mention the shop owner had grown them himself...or so he led them to believe. Either way, it was what they were looking for. "Okay," said Jonas. "I reckon that'll work." He pulled out four credits to hand to the shop owner.

The shopkeeper smiled, taking the credits and giving the pair a couple polite platitudes as he kindly showed them out.

Chloe looked up at Jonas as she left. She gave a small, slightly amused smile. "I guess we didn't need that ruse after all," she noted.

"Yeah. I guess this guy was less concerned about his customers and more so with making a sale. Gonna have to remember that if we ever come back to this planet and need some fresh foods."

The two headed back to the Echo with most of what they'd been sent to get. At least there would be a few things left for the kitchen after Daiyu had her pick. Well, hopefully there would be. And if she could get some good plants going, meals would be a little more flavorful every so often. That was something that Jonas was sure everyone would enjoy.