Free Troy Rising 1 - Live Free or Die by John Ringo Page A

when I get more I'll keep selling you that stuff at six
     hundred. You know it's going to catch on. I'm going to sell the rest of it at bid. But for
     you, my old friend, I'll lock in the price.”
    “Five hundred. I think I've got that much in the drawer.”
    “Done. But I need it on a cash chip.”
    “You're asking a lot... What?” he asked as Shmirg stuck his head through the door. The
     room was soundproofed. It was now apparent there was a lot of shouting in the bar.
    “You either need to get out here or call in Tugornc,” the Rangora said. “I can't keep up.”
    “What do you mean you can't keep up?” Kolu asked. “It's just Ingr, Gurcaur, Hathan,
     Fandent and Bob. How much can they be drinking?”
    “It
    
    
     was
    
    
     just Ingr, Gurcaur, Hathan, Fandent and Bob,” Shmirg said. “But Ingr commed Mongogw and
     Hathan called his pair-brood and Fandent called his ship and... I need some
    
    
     help
    
    
     out here!”
    “So that's five hundred, half now, half when I deliver and both on a chip?” Wathaet asked.
    “I'll go get the chip.”
    ***
    “Holy hell,” Wathaet said as the tractor-bot stopped. There was a line outside of Kulo's.
     Shmirg was now working the door, the saurian towering over the horde of Glatun.
    “Go on through, dude,” Shmirg said as Wathaet pulled the grav bar off the tractor. “Watch
     yourself. The party is in full swing.”
    “WATHAET!” about half the bar chorused as he pulled the barrel through the door. It was
     packed from side to side and most of them were hitting shots as fast as Tugornc could pass
     them out. There were two more Rangora Wathaet didn't recognize circulating with shots.
     Kolu liked Rangora because they didn't drink anything he stocked and most species didn't
     give them crap no matter how drunk or stoned they were. The problem being when Rangora
     showed up for work
    
    
     already
    
    
     hammered. Then it was just call for security bots and clean up the damage.
    “Get that stuff in the back room, fast,” Kolu commed. “We're nearly out and when we run
     out I'm afraid there's going to be a riot!”
    ***
    “What kind of connection is this?” Kulo asked as Wathaet rotated the barrel up into a
     holder.
    “It's called a screw,” Wathaet said. “Primitive planet. Figure it out. I've got three more
     containers of Dragon's Tears. I'm going to head over to Thmmo and Uatha's. If they haven't
     heard about this they will soon. But I'm not selling it for five hundred credits, that's
     for sure.”
    ***
    “Oh, hell,” Wathaet said as he stepped through the airlock. Fabet was passed out in the
     passageway. “Drast?”
    “Wazzip?” the purser commed.
    “Where the hell are you?”
    “Sec... Bzzzpt...
    
    
     unable to process transmission
    
    
     .”
    “Secure room,” Wathaet muttered.
    He went down the passage and was unsurprised to see the door wide open. The purser was
     lying on the ground in a puddle of syrup. Fortunately, he'd gotten the cock closed at some
     point. As Wathaet walked in the room the purser rolled over on his side and started
     licking the deck.
    “Oh, get up,” Wathaet said, pulling him to his feet. “I need you to... Take a shower for
     one thing.
    
    
     Curgo.
    
    
     That's probably a couple of thousand credits of syrup you guys just drank! And spilled!
     And it's coming out of your share!”
    “Bzzzpt?”
    “Never mind.”
    ***
    He got the purser and the engineer into their bunks, rekeyed the door to his own codes and
     got down to work. He'd dropped off bulbs of Dragon's Tears at four more places. And he had
     enough money to placate most of his minor creditors. Not pay them off. Just placate them.
     The major ones were all on hold.
    He'd taken one barrel to Kulo's. Drast and Fabet had broken into the one he'd been using
     for samples. But they couldn't really drink all that much of the stuff. More had probably
     spilled on the deck. So call it two thirds left.
    Four and