Copeland Supply, Salvage, and Resale

by cliff.west

This is a spinoff story. It takes place after "But a somehow a most melancholy" and" Hunted Tribes". Please read those before this bit of work. I will not be recovering those stories, but re-reading them will help you fallow this story. This fiction also will be slow on the combat action.

13. Chapter 13 late 14 Dec 3046

Chapter 13

By Cliff

Beta and Clean up not done

Reviewed by Hotpoint.

Late on 14 Dec 3046

The Dunianshire system

Shopping spree.

The group of four entered the massive building, that was kind of a warehouse and a showroom all in one. It was for MMM, the largest producer of military weapons for this political group on the edge of settled space. As soon as they had entered the main doors of the facility. They could tell, that this was not just a run of the mill warehouse. It was also a major defense point, for some very big opponents. The building was complete with very thick walls, armored glass, and with heavy armored shutters to close off the building from any unwanted accessors. Those were only the defensive points, that were clearly visible to the naked eye. Robert made a mental bet that the building also had its own power supply to power those hidden weapons.

The building was so bright inside. That the group did not have to wait for their eyes to adjust to the inside space, from the bright outside sun light. If it had been cloudy or if the sun had gone down? They might have been blinded by the bright lights from the ceiling or from the light reflecting off all of the shiny surfaces that surrounded them, as they first entered the building.

The entry way was large. But not overly so with a receptionist manning a tall, massive, shiny and maybe wood looking desk. It was set dead center of the two doors that allowed access to the building from the outside world. It was instantly obvious that the massive desk was set up to control access to the main building, and to the showroom behind the office workspace and reception area. The group of visitors only had to wait for a few minutes, after identifying themselves on who they were, to the gate keeper. Soon after that a sales representative was fast walking in her high heels. She was heading toward the group from a side office down an internal corridor that was half hidden from the waiting area.

Drawn by the clicking of heals on the reflective floor, Robert saw her coming and thought she might be heading for them. As soon as he thought that, but before he could alert the rest of his team. Her actions took that need out of his hands. That was when, he saw that she slowed down a little to catch her breath. She carefully straightens her expensive suit, before closing the last few meters of open floor to them. She introduced herself as Dawn, and that she would be showing them around the Show Room today.

With a flourish of her right arm she pointed to a set of doors behind the massive desk. As soon as the thick, and maybe armored opaque glass doors opened. There was a massive change to their surroundings, again. It was a massive area, once they were past the entry way. Robert stopped counting the mechs on display, when he hit 24 of them in the large open area that was separated from the waiting room. And those were the only ones that he had a line of sight with, after entering the main showroom area. He was betting that there were some smaller ones being blocked by their larger brothers.

While Robert looked around, he was wondering what stopped any pirates from raiding this building. Two whole companies of battlemechs, just sitting around? That would be a lucrative target even this long after the 4th SW. Then Robert notices one of the mechs move just a little bit. It was not much of a movement. It was just like someone adjusting in their seat while they were sitting in the cockpit.

With this one clue, in his mind. Robert looked closer at the first mech. It was a rebuilt Atlas assault mech. Now he could tell that there was someone in the cockpit of the mech. The pilot did not wave or anything, but the pilots were busted, and they knew it. Robert had to smile. "That would stop anyone from getting any ideas of shop lifting, with having about twenty-four manned and operational mechs in the mix to stop them. I bet they are most likely crewed by the MMM security unit or a specially hired mercenary unit".

The first two mechs in the show area, were the massive Atlas and an equally impressive Awesome class machine. The slightly smaller unit was standing not that far from the 100ton machine, as gate guards. Both of the rebuilt machines were marked, as being for sale, but they did not list how much they might cost. The sales rep went into detail about each. She had started with the more massive machine, and now that it was revealed to be manned. She took advantage of the sharp-eyed visitor. This included giving the mech pilots orders to move their arms or twist to show off the massive machines in different poses. Then she had the slightly smaller Awesome go through the same motions as she had the Atlas. Seeing that the group was not interested in the massively expensive machines, she went down the line to the next machine on display.

Next in line were two types of new built Marauders, a 3R and a 3M. Robert had seen this type of machine before, so he was not interested in these oddly shaped mechs. Next to be seen, after the pair of Marauders, where four new locally built Shadow Hawks. Each one was described as a different version, of that very old design. One of the versions had the jump jets removed in favor of mounting both heavier armor and more weapons. Next they were shown a Stinger, a Wasp, and two versions of the Locust light mech. The sales rep was a little let down that the VIP group she was showing around, did not seem to be really looking at buying combat mechs.

Those machines were the center of the showroom's whole display area. It was also the focus of how the MMM's sales department used for the determination of promotions and bonuses. She had only just been told, that this group had a lot of money. Money which the leadership of her company wanted to take as much of, as they could legally take off of their hands. She had been told, in no uncertain terms. That she was to sell them anything they wanted, just as long as they spent money. Also, strangely, she had a last-minute note from someone over in the main corporate building. They wanted her to see, if she could find out everything they might have for sale in return. She had almost missed a step when that note had been sent to her as she walked over to meet the VIP's. This was The Showroom. They did not normally "buy" anything. Very rarely did they even deal with trade ins. That was a whole different division of the company, and they were normally handled at the drop port. The show room was for sales.

Now, they were all the way back against the back wall of the massive building. She was now showing them the ground combat vehicles that were built by MMM. If someone was not interested in battlemechs, then they should be interested in ground combat vehicles. Against the back wall was a pair of long rows of death. They were made up of tracked LRM and SRM Carriers, Po, Manticore tanks and Pike support vehicles. The group of outsiders looked at each one and listens to her go about her sales pitch. But she could tell that they wanted to move on to the next display. Interspaced between the real-life weapons were images of examples of items that MMM could acquire, if they were given enough lead time and a graduated service fee. These "displays" also did not get any higher interest than the real displays had from the small group.

Dawn's superb selling sense told her that the only thing that had grabbed the group's attention, had been the Sabre aero fighter. That alone had told her. That they had money, that they wanted to spend today. If only she could find out, what they wanted to spend that money on. Dawn was about to start freaking out. She kept those feelings hidden away in one small corner of her brain, and it would not show on her face or in her very controlled body language.

If they walked out, without showing any interest, and or not buying any of the high-ticket weapons? She might lose her nice paying job, as soon as they got into their taxi. That is when it hit her. She was showing and not asking, what they would like to see. Now she had to figure out how to save the situation she had found herself, hip deep into. She spun around on her expensive high heels and faces the group of four off worlders.

"So, that concludes the normal tour. Is there something you're interested in, that we do not have on the main floor of the Show Room?" She was keeping her face plastered with a salesperson smile, but her hands were behind her back to keep them hidden.

Robert had been taking mental notes during the whole song and dance being put on by Dawn. But besides the Fighter? He was wondering if this was a waste of time, or not. The Fighter was nice, and with the Colonial Navy now fielding the Royal version of that craft. They were the same type that they found, when they recovered the carrier Kaga.

It might have been worth picking up a few, if they could be modified up to the Royal level weapons tech with ease. The down sides? It was that the fighter would have to be stripped down to the frame and rebuilt with current technology from the hull out. Robert knew that was not going to be cheap or easy to do. That is why Robert thought they would take a pass, on even the little fighter. Fighters were not on his list to take back home, and they were only borderline "interesting". He was not going to spend that kind of money on borderline.

Robert would write down those notes about it and pass it along to his boss, when they got back to New Circe. Someone with a higher pay grade might just decide to put in a request to get some, on the next run. Then again, they might just toss those notes in the waste bin and move on to other maybe greener pastures. Then again, the grass is always greener over the septic tank.

"Dawn. Your showroom is most impressive, but it does not really have what we need. Where we are scheduled to stop over, at least for the next few months have different needs than I think you are used to filling. I am not in the mood to compete against larger importers." Robert waved to point to the whole show room that was around him. "What you have shown us, is not really what we are looking for. Did someone not pass you the list of things, that my group is looking to acquire as cargo?" The tone of voice carried his confusion.

Robert was looking right at Dawn, and from the look on her face? She had not been given much of a brief on what Copeland Supply was looking to buy today. He could see flashes of anger between attempts to conceal her confusion. This was only causing more anger flashes to be drawn to the surface of her face. Robert had to fight down a smile, at seeing the rapidly changing color of her skin. It would seem, that someone had been playing interoffice games again. "I bet she is going to pay someone back in a big way."

"I take it, you were not told." Robert bit his lower lip. You would expect better inter office communications, for something that has been around as long as MMM had been. "Dawn where we are going, is off the beaten path. What we are looking at? Is picking up tools, construction equipment, and other things along those same lines."

Robert passed his noteputor over, so she could see the full list that they had posted on this planet's worldwide information net. They had done that posting so that everyone would know what they were looking for. This was hoped to stop any unwanted contact and speed up there shopping time needed to fill the dropships' cargo bays. It would seem, that it had not worked as well as Robert had hoped. But it did cut down on unwanted contact, somewhat. It was just too bad, that this sales rep. had not seen it.

Dawn was looking at the list on the offered electronic device. She was furious about not being told about this list. She had just wasted a lot of time, and she could have very well lost this client. She quickly reviewed the list with a little more attention than the first glance. She noted that it was strange, they did not want any mechs or tanks. Everyone wanted mechs. Battlemechs had always been a sellers' market in living memory of anyone working for MMM. There were always people that wanted one, even if they did not have the money to buy one. As she looked down the list again. She was not really looking that close. She was getting a feel for what they were looking for. She was going down the mental list of things, that she knew The Showroom had in the back room that might fit what he had told her.

"Sir? We normally do not carry this type of merchandise on the main floor. How about, we all go out to the outside park and see what we have out there that you might like." She raised one of her arms and pointed to a side door on the far side of the building from their current location. She had no idea what was all back there. If she had been given that list, before she had started her routine? She would have known everything that was back there, by heart. She was thinking about how she was going to make whoever set her up today, pay. As they exited the building, she was picturing sporks and sensitive organs.

The "Outside Park" had a very different feel then the clean and climate controlled "The Showroom", which they had just left. Everything in there had been clean, neat, and if not new. Then they all had been freshly rebuilt to a high quality. It was that or the tape and bailing wire was carefully covered. The outside area was a lot dirtier and grittier, on all levels. Some of the outside displays even had unrepaired visible damage on them. Some of the displays even looked like they would need major repairs, before they could move off the lot under their own power. Robert thought that these machines were sold as is, and with a "buyer beware" sign posted in the cockpit of each one. Those signs were not there by company policy, but they would have been left there by the last pilots. All without MMM knowing about it, they hoped. The group passed all of these war machines and kept walking around the area closest to the door.

Robert was a little surprised, but in a good way, that Dawn kept right on walking passed the damaged war machines. She was making small talk as she walked, but nothing that was related to the walking or other more conventional motive systems, that they were passing. They were getting close to the end of the open lot, at a steady pace. Robert could see the wall and gate that allowed secure entry and exit to the facility between some almost hulks, after a few minutes of walking. Robert was again starting to think that this might have been a waste of time. If he did not want new or rebuilt machines, why would he want wrecks?

Dawn turned around just as they passed a mostly wrecked Scorpion tank, which had its turret hanging off to one side of the tank's main hull. There were still a dozen holes in the hull, and it still smelled of smoke. "This is our workmech area. This is not all of them. We rent out a lot of the machines by the day, week, month, or even by the year. If you're a local company, and in good standing with MMM? We will work with them on a rent to own program. We have even been known to lend them, for free, after a disaster or major raid to certain groups to help with the rebuilding or other recovery efforts."

This area is even dirtier, then the area by the entrance to the Show Room had been. Dawn was thinking, "I have got to sell them something, or I'm so gone". She looked down at her own Noteputor and then started up again with "The Pitch". This was not her normal area, but she had a good bit of information on her device to help her.

"We have two Rock Hound mining mechs, one Rock Otter, and one Dig Lord. Plus, we have four Power loaders on hand, right at the moment. There are more of the Power loaders, but they are being used at the Drop port for a short-term contract. If you would like to see them? We can have you dropped off, at the end of their work shifts later today." She was flipping through screens faster than she was talking.

She was walking around a tall wall that might have been part of a storage and wash rack, but it had empty slots that looked to have seen recent use. As the group followed, the quartet saw more machines standing in the hot sun over their heads. "As you can see, we also have four carbine construction mechs, which will be returning tonight. Last, but not least, we have three 30ton class logger mechs." With the last statement she turned and faced the group again. She had a smile on her face, but it was a little strained. She was out of cards, and she knew it. "So, is this more in line with what you were looking for?" Her voice now had an almost desperate undertone to it that contradicted her smile. She was hoping to find a way to stay in the game.

Robert and the rest of the group were looking around at the mass of machinery. Robert had a tight lip look on his face, but inside he was happy. Robert did a turn and gave some quick orders to his group. "Mike, Jess why don't you start over there and check them out. You all know what we are looking for."

Robert could tell that Dawn was not getting it, so he turned and looked right at her as the other two went to the first two machines. "We will be taking only the machines, that we think are up to our operational standard."

Mike and Jess had already walked up to the first machine, it was one of the Logger mechs. He gave the sales rep one of his patented half smile. "Now Dawn! This is more like it! I think that we will be taking a few of these machines off your hands. That is, as soon as MMM comes through on their end of the deal. The one that we made before we got here, with Mr. McDonogh."

Robert even let the smile reach his eyes. He was not dropping a dime. He was dropping a manhole cover, and he kind of liked doing it. Robert had hoped to be able to pick up three or four workmechs on this planet. He had been surprised at the numbers of machines on display, even on a major world.

Dawn was trying to be sly, but both Lora and Robert caught the hand movement the woman had just made. What she had done, was just tapped the top corner of the screen on the noteputor in her other hand. She had done it, just as she had been told to do. That is if this group had decided to make a purchase at the Show Room today. The two visitors did not say anything. They just let the motion go so that it had seemed as it had been unnoticed, as if they were just three people watching two others checking out the tall walking machines.

The other two were, first checking the logs of each machines. Then Mike would climb the ladder and run the checks inside of the cockpit. Jess would remain on the ground doing more studying of the historic operational logs. It should have taken an hour to do each of the machines, but these machines were set up for review. It also helped that the two people were working on this task, and not the one person that was normally given the job. They were making good time, even if they were being thorough at the tasks. The pair knew that if they missed anything major. That they would hear about it when they got back home, and for many years to come.

Jess and Mike had completed the review of four of the machines, when Lora's noteputor buzzed for her attention. When she looked down to read the message, Robert casually shifted position so he could read over her shoulder. It was a bad angle, so Lora gave him a look before answering his unasked question. "Well, Robert. All of the money will be in the bank, by Close of Business today. We can draw on the funds right now, if you want and it would be perfectly legal. A fifth just hit your escrow accounts and the next fifth should be cleared for transfer by the top of the hour. This is normal when they have to shift a large number of C-bills between banks."

What Lora did not need to say, was that both of her fees had already been pulled from the accounts, before he could spend a cent of it. That still left a little over two hundred and forty million C-Bills for Robert to try to spend down, maybe even before they left the system. You have to admit. That is a problem a lot of people would love to have, at least once or twice in their lives.

"Well, that is good to hear. That means we can pay for some of these toys, that those two are looking at. Lora, can you please send a message back to the Maru for me? They can now forward a message to the Styx. That they can begin their shopping trip whenever they want to. You can also post the full list." Robert had pitched his voice just loud enough for the sells person to hear him. He thought that he knew the reason for the delay in the funds transfer. Someone in MMM wanted to make sure they got a chance to get some of their money back. This little speech had been worked out before they had left the restaurant.

The two of them had been waiting to send that message for hours, and it felt like they had been waiting for days. The Styx would now start actively asking around for a special list of key parts, which would fit a Merchant class jumpship. It was up to Jules to buy what he thought would be useful for their cover story and could be useful back in New Circe at the same time. If he did not buy anything? That was okay. The key was to get the cover story out, to as broad an audience as possible. This started the clock ticking about letting Lora know about the possible next mission. It should not take someone with her contacts that long, to find out about the questions being asked about certain jumpship parts. Then there would be the pointed questions, that were going to be asked by her.

Robert knew the Sales Rep had heard what he had asked, and he would bet that it would be passed along to her superiors later. Now that he was looking at her. He realized Dawn was being underutilized for the amount of money he was going to be spending, and he was hot. "Dawn, can you have someone bring out some drinks for my people." She nodded and went back to her thin computer that was still held so tightly in her left hand, that her knuckles were white.

Jess and Mike were setting at the foot of one of the Machines taking a break and talking. Robert did not know what they were talking about, from where he was standing. The three other people had already moved to a sitting area, which had a small selection of cheap lawn furniture. That did not mean that it was not nice, and it just happened to be out of the sun as well as comfortable. The pair had been going at it for two hours, but they still had four more machines to check out, before they were done. The four machines that were due to come in, had come in. It had been while the duo was finishing up checking on the last Rock Hound mining and prospecting mechs. Robert could feel the let down from the pair from his place in the shade, when those four machines came marching through the gate. It was like getting hit in the face with a fish.

Robert had walked over a few times, to see how things were going with the pair. Mainly it was just to chat with them, and to let them know that it was okay to take their time and do a good job. He also wanted to know about a few other of the machines, but he did not want the sales rep to know. So far, all the machines they had looked at, had checked out. They told him, was that so far. All they really needed was a good cleaning, before being stored in the cargo bay of a dropship to be taken off planet. Well that, and a ride back to get them all safely back to New Circe. The last part was not said aloud, but it was hinted at with head and eye movement.

A few minutes later, a guy in a food vender's outfit pushed a two wheeled cart over to the two people sitting on the mechs legs catching their breath. This was his second time today, for it to have stop by them. The pair knew that they had to be done as quickly as they could, so that they could get back to the dropship for the next meeting. They also knew, that if they picked up what was referred to as "a lemon" for some unknown reason? But it was known to come from the days before space travel. It would reflect badly on them, when it was found out. They could always come back to this place, if the Captain decided that it was taking too long today. The time to find out that you have a bad machine, was not when you were over 1400 light years from where you bought the now useless machine. Enough things would break, before they got back home.

After servicing the two people out by the massive machines, the cart started moving again. Then the cart came to the three people sitting around a heavy backyard table. This was where Robert noticed something odd about the cart, for the first time. On one side of the cart was a selection of about two dozen hard back books mounted in shelves on the side of the cart. Robert was distracted from the books, when the vender asked what cold drinks they would like to have. They all got up to see what was offered in the ice and glass bottled filled center void, of the three wheeled electric drink cart. It was a wide range of drinks that would fit any time of day, or night for that matter. Not for the second time Robert was glad that they had landed on a planet that English was the common language, unlike on some of the Drac or Cappie controlled worlds. Here he did not need a translator for every little thing to know what he was buying

The two other ladies ordered a pair of fruit flavored drinks, and while the operator was taking care of them. Robert looked down at the books on display. All were thick, heavy and made of paper, there was not a single electronic book on display. He was reading the titles but was having a hard time understanding some of them. A lot of them were written in languages that Robert did not understand, or even could identify the letters that they were written in. That was until he reached the end of the first row of books on the three wheeled cart.

That book was clearly titled. "The Complete Guide to Warfighting Machines of 3044." It was a massive book, like one's that would be put out on a coffee table back home and never moved again. It would have some very detailed images and as much information, the best that was available to the writers at the time it was last edited. So, it should be one step below what the spies of the major houses might know about the subject covered with in its hard outer covers.

Robert looked up from the books and made eye contact with the vender. "Do you mind if I take a look at this book?" He had no idea what the rules were, and he was treading very carefully. Maybe a little too carefully, but it beats going to jail for doing something dumb. Because something like that had happened before, and it was most likely going to happen again on this trip.

Before the mobile drink vender could say anything. Dawn interrupted him first, her tone was odd but light. "Those are for our patrons. It's so they can compare our offered machines against any other known machine. It also should help compare ones that they might know about but can only vaguely remember something about. It sort of the light reading for, while….. Well like we are now, waiting for the techs to get done doing any inspections or tests on the prospective machines."

Robert selected the book and asked for the same drink the women had, and then pulled the heavy book off the shelf. He spent the next hour or so flipping through the mix of full color, black and white photos, and text filled pages. He was so into the hard-backed book? That he did not notice that Mike and Jess had walked back up, to rejoin the group. Robert was a little startled when one of them set and empty glass bottle on the table right beside him.

"If you would like a copy? I can also add a copy as a comp, if you want to pay for an upgrade to the threat computer and have one of the Rock Hounds outfitted to hold it. That is, if you choose to buy one of them?" This was said by Dawn, as she gave Robert a sly little smile from across the table in the fading sunlight. "If not? I think you can pick up a copy at one of the major bookstores on planet. I don't know how much they cost, but it is probably about a hundred C-Bills or so for a digital or physical copy." She finished with a shrug of her shoulders. She still did not know if they were going to write a check today, or not. They looked like they were, but she had seen this before. At the last minute they could back out after spending most of a day of her time. If they came back tomorrow someone else might cherry pick them, unless one of them asked for her by name.

Robert looked left and right, and after seeing that all of his people were nearby. "Dawn, if you would give us some private time? I need to get a back brief from my people." The Sales rep was already rising from the table as soon as Robert started talking. It was a habit that had developed, over years of sales that had not started with her working for MMM. The trick was to know when a group needed some privacy to talk about how much money they were about to drop in this office. Or it could be that they were not interested in what was offered, and they were about to leave. It was just one more step in going down the sale's road.

Mike was the first one to talk, because Jess was distracted by an image of a mech in the huge open book, which Robert had been looking at when they had walked up. The image of a 100ton KGC-0000 or as it was more widely known King Crab, and it had a way of doing that to people. Mike did not even notice that Jess was distracted. "I checked all the industrial machines, which they have out here. They all are used, some more than others, but all are in working order and well maintained. I did not fire the Short-Ranged Missile system on the Rock Hounds, but they did pass all of the fire control self-tests, that I could run on them. I say they are good to go, unless Jess found something in the logbooks that I did not see during my check outs."

Now Mike was looking at the other woman. He was waiting for her to say something now that it was her turn to have input to this part of the mission. He had no idea what she was supposed to do out here in the mech yard. He just knew that she was part of the command staff for the whole mission. That was good enough for him to not to want to ask to many questions.

It took a few moments for it to reach Jess, that they were waiting on her for input on the mechs they had been looking at all afternoon. "Ohh yes! I went through all of the logs, and unless they are very good fakes? They checked out. MMM has been renting them out for about ten years or more. The number of rental years is depending on the machine. All the services have been completed and notes have been made, some notes are more detailed than others that were put in their logbooks. I saw that some notes have been made where about when something major needed to be replaced, along with dates of the replacement. I agree, all are worth purchasing and would help back home. That is if they don't want too much per machine. They are used, to well-used level of condition, after all.

Robert was lost in thought, and then he reached into his pocket and pulled out his push to talk radio. Now that he did not "need" to be overheard. He could use his own communications device. "Maru, this is Copeland. We are going to be late. Please let everyone else know, about the change of plans. We just will catch everyone up at the next meeting. I want to have one at 0900, tomorrow. If it's important? They can contact me on this thing or wait till we get back to the drop port sometime later tonight."

Robert waited for a few moments listening to the ear bud before continuing. "Okay tell Jules that he has a ten million C-Bill budget. If he needs more than that? Then he needs to let me know, before he offers that kind of money on something big." It would seem, that something at the space station had attracted his attention and Robert was wondering what it might be. Then he remembers, that with Jules? Well you never knew, until it was in the cargo bays. And sometimes you did not know until that cargo bay was fully unloaded.

Robert put the comm away and looked at the little group around him. He had a sly little smile that he made sure that Dawn could not see. "Well let's see how much of MMM's money they are going to get back from us, in the next few minutes."

Everyone took a seat and sat back a little to relax, for a bit. Their part of the mission was over, for now. Now it was their turn to relax and let the Captain work up some brain sweat, to support the mission. Robert looked up and started to look around, when he made eye contact with the Sales rep for the Show Room. He waved her over, and he already had on his own salesman smile.

Dawn gave a small smile, as she started to walk over to the table with the four strangers sitting around the heavy-duty yard table. She was thinking that this was not going to be a big sale. It would, however, keep the sales department heads off her case, for the next few days. Maybe she would even keep her job for another week or month. Every mech these people had looked at was at or over a Million C-Bills, out the door. They were not a ten million C-Bills sale, like moving that Atlas would bring in. Then again? They have been trying to move that one beast for the last four years and they have had no takers, yet. She still was hoping to pull that one off one day. She had to push that dream out of her brain and focus on this sale, even if it was going to be smaller than she had first hoped for only a few hours ago.

"Dawn, I think we are ready to see what your company is going to get out of us today. Do you think we could have that gentleman come out again with some drinks, ones that are a little more potent than cold fruit juice?"

Robert was loading the deck, for the Sales Rep. Or that was what he was hoping, that she was thinking something like that. Robert had been down this road before and was betting he was better at it, than this saleswoman was. It was a gamble, and he like to gamble a little bit. He had missed being able to do it so far. The fun part? It was that he was gambling with another person's money, and they were okay with him doing it. What more can a person wish for in a job?

Normally she would not have called the vender to come out, outside his normal route. Company policy was that it was reserved for higher end sales. She had called him the first time because of the notice from Corporate about Captain Copeland coming to look around. She thought that if someone that high in Corporate knew who this Captain was? Then a few free drinks were in order. The second stop by had been because it was on his normal route. Besides a Wasp was about 1.6 million C-Bills new, and most of these machines were not that much cheaper than the 20ton weapon system. So, Dawn sent a ping on her noteputor for the vender to come back out, before she sat down at the outdoor table again. Her boss could cancel the request, but she had done as asked by this client.

She would have preferred to work in one of the more lavishly appointed offices, that was also nicely air conditioned and dust free. But if this was where they wanted to work? Then she was game for it. So, Dawn sat down in an old lawn chair to work on a million C-Bill sale. Across from her was a local, that Captain Copeland had the foresight to hire. Dawn had never worked for or against her before, but she had read a company report about her while they had waited. She had been reviewing it again, when she walked away so that the group could have a private meeting.

The report had said that she was very good or very bad, if you have to work against her. It was said that her mother was also a real pain to work against, if she was working for the other side when buying any products from someone who had hired her. Dawn had wondered why MMM had not hired her or forced her off planet, by now. Well that was a thought for another day.

Right now, Miss Noone was deep in her noteputor doing something, which no doubt was to help her client work this deal. Dawn was still getting all of her notes together, when the vender made his way back to the table. Everyone orders a local beer to drink, Dawn smiled to herself. It always made her job easier, when the other side was drinking on an empty stomach. Dawn re-pinged the drink vender with a code. This was the code for him to stay near for the negotiations. It also unfortunately pinged her bosses' devices, and that might be bad, or they would just redirect the vender back inside. She was doing everything by the MMM Sales book. If her boss did not like it? Well, at least she was covered, and HR would have to deal with her "bitch" side.

When Dawn was drawing out the time, that she needed before she started the negotiating. The longer she took, the better. By the time she was ready to start the negotiations. They all had almost finished their first beer. Before Dawn could do more than say, boo. Lora held her hand up. It was the universal sign that she needed more time, before they could start the process of the sale of the machines. Dawn smiled, this time it showed on her face. Two beers should make her job that much easier, and a bigger commission for her to put in her bank account. She might even get a full percentage bonus out of this, after all.

Dawn knew the other side was ready, when Lora passed her noteputor over to Robert. Dawn saw that it had a very detailed image of a 30ton logger mech. "So, that is the one they want." Thought Dawn, as she pulled up some information in a small side screen on her own electronic device. "Well, that's the cheapest one they could buy." She had to fight not to let a frown come to her face at seeing the list price. She was a commission sells rep, and the more expensive the machine they bought the more money she could take home.

After giving Robert a few seconds to look at the data. He turned it, so that Dawn could not see the screen anymore. It was a letdown, but a million sale was a million C-Bill sale. You did not do those every day, not even with a major Mech works on the planet like MMM. If she could close this deal? She would take home just under 10,000. Well 10,000 c bills before all of the taxes and other fees were taken out of that check. That was not a bad two months' pay, if you can handle the stress.

Dawn put on her smile at full power, and eye locked the Captain. "So, looks like you're ready. What machine are you looking at adding to your company today?"

Robert had the screen pointed toward him, and then he looked right at the saleswoman. "Dawn, do you give a discount when you purchase multiple machines? That is if you buy them all at once?" Asked Robert with a straight face. He had seen Dawns face, when Lora had passed the noteputor to him. The little downturn of her lips on the right side of her face said that she was hoping for a bigger sale, when she had seen the logger mech displayed on the small but bright screen. It was just as Lora and he wanted it to be. That also was the reason that he was going to start working this deal, and not her.

"Boy is she in for a surprise," thought Robert. He had his poker face on, as he went to work. He just added two points to his own score card against Dawn. You had to have some way to know if you won, or to know how badly you lost.

This was not the first time that Dawn heard of someone asking this question. The answer was always the same. "I am sorry, sir. That is unless you're buying a dozen, with a pre order request that has been filed with the home office. MMM does not give a group discount."

She said out loud. But in her mind? It was going in hyper speed. "Well this has gotten a lot better." Selling three machines, in one setting was rare. So rare, in fact? That she could not think of anyone working the floor of this building, today, that had done it before. Even if the machines were the cheapest on the lot. In the quantity they wanted, it would make this a very big sale.

"So, you're looking at all three of the Logger Mechs?" She worked on her noteputor, until she found the page she wanted. "They are a little over one point four million C-Bills each, so we can call it four point four million C-Bills. Or four point three, if you pick them up yourself. If you prefer, we can convert the amount to any of the house bills you like, if that would be easier. MMM can handle most forms of House Bills, with minimal fees on the conversion over to C-Bills."

Robert had the same half smile on, that he used at other times like these. "No, Dawn. We will keep everything in C-Bills, if you don't mind. That is the way that we are used to working anyway. We will start with those machines, and then see where we can go after that."

Robert looked down at the noteputor before he continued. He did not want to see the saleswoman's face just yet. "From what I can see, those types of machines go for one point two five million C-Bills, new. These machines are well maintained, but you would have to agree with me. That they are far from new in condition. Your company has been making money on the rental fees for some time, almost a decade on one of them. Now, I don't know how much you have been charging on those rentals. I would bet they have already started to pay down the cost of buying them, in the first place. I think three million for all of them, is a fair price." Now, it was time for Robert to watch how Dawn would react to that sum of money.

Dawn was still sitting straight in her yard chair, but the lines at the corner of her eyes twitched a little. "So, they might want more than just those three old machines. This should be interesting." She kept her voice level, and she was wishing that she had her desk as a prop to use. "Captain Copeland, I can go down as low as three point three for the lot. That is, it. Any lower and I will have to ask you for a job, and I hate space travel."

"This was not too far from the truth on both counts," Dawn thought to herself. She might have gotten away with taking three point one or even three million flat. She could always say that she was trying to keep a VIP happy for MMM, as a whole company. It would not fly that far but it would fly, somewhat. It would depend on who these people really knew in MMM's upper chain of command. Anyone can name drop, after all.

Robert thought about pushing harder, but then changed his mind. The information that Lora had passed him, had said that the whole lot of the machines that they wanted. All would sale for about nineteen point four million, in total. He had thought about asking for a lot price, even after being told there was not a group discount. Then he had gotten a feeling that Dawn would not go lower than nineteen or maybe eighteen point eight. He could see her saying how great a deal they were making, at getting a half a million C-Bill price reduction off of the listed price. That would be a hard-bargaining stance to beat, so he would break down what he wanted into smaller groups. Then he could try to get a price break, that way. It was going to make the day longer, but Robert felt that it was going to be worth the time. He made himself look down at the screen again and he made a face that Dawn could only partially see, before he continued with his part of the dance.

"Three point three million C-Bills is a lot of money, and I will still have the transportation cost in getting them off planet and out of this system. I can do that, but I need them Agro inspection clean. I also want a complete service regiment done on each one of them before I accept them. And I want them delivered to my ships, at the drop port, at MMM's cost. On top of that, I will need them delivered no later than noon tomorrow." Robert looked up from the screen with the last part of his verbal delivery, to see how she would react to that little bit of news.

Dawn was fighting not to jump up and down. "Yes!!" she had done it. The three conditions that he had asked for. They all were free, no matter what machine they had bought. Then it hit her. He might be joking. She had to make sure one way, or the other? "We can do all of that, but we cannot deliver until payment, in full, has been made to MMM."

Dawn stop when she looked around the table. Unless she was very wrong? They were going to transfer the funds tonight. "No wonder Corporate HQ was involved. These guys had some money to draw on!" Now Dawn knew that they had not been just name dropping. These people were the real deal, and they wanted to spend a hill sized amount of C-Bills. All because they had them.

"Okay, then we have a deal Captain Copeland." She started to stand up, but something made her stop and return to her yard chair. No one else was rising from the table. She lost her composure for a few long seconds and started looking around the table. She was trying to work out what she had missed. She had gotten so focused on closing the sale, that she had forgotten the little words "for now" that the Captain had said at the start.

Lora looked at Dawn, and it took almost a full minute for her to realize that Lora was waiting for something. When Dawn got her work face back on, she was looking back at Lora. Lora figured that she needed to get the next step going on her own. "Dawn, we would like to pass the funds for these machines right now and end this part of the deal. Do you have the account number and billing code, which I can transfer the funds to now? We do not want to get caught out, if the banks close a little early today."

Dawn looked down at her noteputor, and quickly found the information and sent it to Lora's digital mail address, one had been in her file. She had never been there, when someone paid a multimillion C-Bill deal in full. The same day that it had been agreed to. It was a little unsettling, to tell you the truth. She could tell that this was not over yet. Her heart rate started to climb again as she waited for the data transfer.

Lora's noteputor buzzed and she looked down, and her fingers went to work in short flashes of movement. "There we go. The funds are working towards the account number you gave me. I hope it was the right one, dear. MMM does not like mistakes like that." Lora's smile took the sting out of the last few words of her statement, but it was only half a joke and both women knew it. You could run far and fast with the kind of funds, that had just been passed digitally between the two bank account numbers.

Robert looked from Lora back to Dawn the Saleswoman. "Now that is done. Dawn what can you do on both of those Rock Hounds and the single Rock Otter mech?" Asked Robert, as he folded his arms across his chest and waited for a reply. This was starting to be a bucket full of fun, for the man from far away.

Dawn was stunned. "They wanted more than those machines, after all." This could be a good night. The key might be keeping them here and happy, as long as she could. "Captain Copeland, exactly how many machines are we going to be talking about tonight? If we are going to be here for a while? Maybe I should have some real food delivered for us? I believe Miss Noone likes the food at Café Le Chiffre." Dawn was remembering a bit of the other woman's file. She had been very surprised at how much detail MMM had on this woman and her family.

Robert looked around the table, before saying any more. He could see agreement on all of his people's faces, about the offer of food. "Dawn, food would be very nice. If you do order something, just have them send over our usual. If you, please? As for how long we will be here. This is dependent on how long it takes to reach the top of our pre-planned budget."

He gave a sly grin that Dawn found sexy, and he cocked an eyebrow at her. "Before you ask. I will not tell you what the budget is. You will know, when I tell you. That we are there, and our buying has come to a close. Now back to those mining mechs." Robert drops the grin and his face went still as stone, as he waited for a reply.

Dawn needed to think quickly and accurately. "Let me take care of the food first, and let my bosses know that we will be here for some time. We will also need some banking support. I think that we will need to let them know, before they go home for the night. They so hate it, when we call them in after they have gone home for the night. They tend to drag their feet, when you make them go back to their comfortable offices." She gave a soft laugh at her own joke, but it did not carry over with Robert's group. Robert just gave her a slight nod of his head. Dawn got up from the table to take care of what she needed to.

When Dawn rose to leave the table, Lora reached again for her personal noteputor. She opened a program. She sent the driver waiting for them a notice, that they were going to be longer than expected. She told him that he could leave and get him something to eat, and to charge it to them. By the time Dawn was reaching for the door to the Show Room, the sedan was already pulling out of the underground parking area. There was a very happy driver at the controls of the hover car. Not only was he getting overtime? He was now getting a free meal on top of that.

When Dawn entered the building, her boss, his boss, and her boss all were waiting for her out of sight from the yard. She waved to them but went to the land line first to take care of the food order. She was surprised when she told the Cafe' who the food was for. Then with those few magic words. They had no problem making a food delivery, as long as payment would be given at the time of delivery. This was common for a short list of food venders, that MMM had used in the past, but this was a first-time order to this location. It would seem, that the file was again correct about Miss Noone. She had friends, and then she had some friends that would do a lot to keep working with her.

Now with seven meals on the way, to help further "grease" the skids of negotiations. She had to deal with her supervisors, before going back outside to make another deal for who knew how many millions of C-Bills. That was one thing she hated about this job. Bureaucracy over deals, dominated this level of the massive manufacturing company.

When she came back from the land line. She fast walked back to her supervisor's office to give them an update on these strange VIPs. She started by telling them that Copeland and group, had bought the three logger mechs. They were not that impressed, until she told them that they had transferred the funds already to pay for them. This was met with some disbelief until one of them checked with the finance department, and they contacted the bank.

It only took a few minutes of talking before the bank told them, that they had a three point three million C-Bills deposit being processed for the sales department's primary account. Dawn did not realize, that she had been a little nervous when they contacted the bank. But it looked like they were giving a billing code that matched the one on Dawns computer. After some quick explaining that Dawn's clients were not done shopping, but they wanted to discuss the purchase of the Rock Hound/Otters on the back lot with her boss. She just told them that they were hinting that they might want all three of the working machines. That is, if she could close this part of the deal with this group. A deal that they were delaying her on.

The three-person management team was not overjoyed about the sale price for the workmechs, but they knew that they were used machines. They still would turn a nice profit in the books, on that one sale. They told her. If she closes the deal on those three other machines? She would break the Show Rooms best day, for the number of Mech sold in one day ever. They wished her luck on breaking the single day sales of twelve million C-Bills. The words were nice, but the tone that those words had been given were not. Both of those records had been set by her second line boss. What was not said, but Dawn knew from the watercooler talk. It had taken MMM over three months, to get all of the money for that lance of Battlemechs she had sold to the mercenary unit. She let the evil tone slide off of her back. She had some money to make in commissions.

She told them that they needed to make sure that the full cleaning and service crew came in first thing in the morning. She restated that this Captain would want the machines, he was buying tonight, in his hands by noon tomorrow or there would be hell to pay. She also told them that she might need someone with banking connections to be available, before she was done tonight. She did a little lift of her chin, and her smile was pure evil.

At first, her boss thought she might just be showing off and trying to get under her skin by being cocky. That was until her boss and the senior person in the room got up to leave and told her the same thing, that Dawn had said. Now it was not a joke. She reached over and called the head of the Finance department and made arrangements, for someone in that department to be there all night. They were to stay at work until they were contacted and told that they were not needed anymore, by someone in the sales department. She advised them to keep an eye out for any fund transfers coming from her office tonight. She got some push back from that department, but she stomped on it. All she had to do was mention her boss's name, and that did the trick. She did not even have to go to the level, that the word to help them had come from the President's personal assistant with a bullet.

Dawn had a strut to her walk, as she left the office. Her boss and the only male in her food chain, smiled and gave her a thumbs up. Dawn returned the gesture, with a sly smile on her face. If she sold just one more machine? she would get a lance bonus. If she broke the all-time sells for the total number of C-Bills, in one day? That was another bonus on top of the lance bonus. She told herself to check what the bonus was for selling two lances worth of equipment, in one day might be. She was running the numbers in her head, to see how much she might be making today and tonight. That was just in bonuses and commissions she already had in the bank. She was looking forward to taking that nice month-long vacation on the beach, that she had wanted to take for years. First, she was going to pay for a year of her homes lease. She knew that for every feast, there are going to be two famines. She had to fight down the urge to click her heals together as she cleared the office space.

When she exited the door to the back lot, she could see Captain Copeland and group with their feet up on the lawn table relaxing drinking more beers or wine. Even the man that ran the Vender cart was talking with them. She noted that this group made friends easily. All they needed was a little fire burning and it could have been a backyard get together, instead of a multimillion C-Bill business deal that it already had become.

As Dawn got closer to the group, the feet had come down off the table and the vender started to leave. He quickly decided, that he should just move a little way away from this group and sales rep for the Show Room. He stopped just out of hearing range, so the group could have some privacy. He still was close enough to be called over, when anyone needed refills or just some fresh drinks. He knew that the "wine" was mostly fruit juice in a wine glass. He should have alerted the sales rep, but he had been given a nice tip. Besides the sales reps tended to look down at him. He knew that most of that was due to him being able to pee standing up.

Dawn pulled the yard chair out and sat down at the yard table. It took a few moments for her to get comfortable. A business suit and a lawn chair did not mix well, but she was trying her best to pull it off. All the while trying to maintain her dignity. When she felt that it was good enough. She looked back at the leader of this quartet.

"So, Captain Copeland. Were you looking to make another bulk purchase on the Rock Hounds and the Rock Otter, also?" She was not sure, but you had to start somewhere.

Lora was the one to answer and not Robert, this time. This was a standard trick to keep the seller off of their game plan. "Yes, we are looking to buy all three of them. That is, if the price is right. What would you call a fair price?"

Dawn looked down at her little computer again. The little noteputor had an image of the Rock Hound and all the information on it, that she needed to make the sale. "Well, I guess I will start. They all are listed for sale on the planetary information net, and the total comes to right at five point six million for the trio." Now all she had to do was wait, for the counter bid to come from the other side of the table. She knew that the listed price was high, but she had not lied to the man and his team. That was what the total, of what was listed for them on the sales public access network came to.

Lora just blinked at the other woman in "shocked" surprise. "Are you kidding me? Dawn, you have the logbooks. The total, new out of the factory is maybe five point five. And these machines are old. The Rock Otter is listed as having been salvaged from the bottom of a shallow ocean over fifty years ago, and she is the newest of the three. Would you like to try again?"

"Oh crap," Dawn looked down at her computer and flipped to the information on the Otter. Miss Noone was right about the Otter. Everyone knew that saltwater was very bad on machinery and worse on mechs. She knows that she needs a good counteroffer, or this deal was burned. And by burned? It was that her company was going to take a hit to the bottom line or the mech would be staying on the sales lot.

Dawn and Lora went back and forth on the cost of the three machines several more times. They had just come to a total amount, that was well below what Dawn had asked for at first. It also was lower, than what Robert would have settled for to buy them. Lora had just finished sending the four point nine million C-Bills to the MMM account, when the food was delivered.

Dawn was very pleased with herself even with the hard ball playing Lora. She still had sold those last three machines, at a profit. It was not that much of a profit per machine, but it would still be listed on the books as a profit. They had just finished the transfer, when the food was brought in. She had not known what to order from Le Chiffre, so she had just asked for whatever Lora had normally. She was now mouth deep in angel hair pasta, when Robert said something. She looked up and something must have been on her face, because the Captain repeated what he had said before with a knowing smile on his face.

Robert had to fight down a food spewing laugh, at the look on the Saleswoman's face with thin pasta hanging out of it. He repeated what he had said, to the top of her head a second ago. He had waited until she was over a quarter of the way done with the main dish, before he had interrupted her. "Its great food, don't you think? Normally we work through to the end of our meals, as a habit. So, what is the price you are looking to get on the four Power loaders? The one's you have here, on the grounds. We only have one between the two dropships I command. I don't think you know what it's like trying to unload eight thousand tons of cargo, with only one of those. Let me tell you. It's not something I want to do again. That is if we don't have to."

Dawn quickly put her fork down and looked up from checking her noteputor and let her head tilt to one side. This was a gaff, and after so many hours working with this man. He had not made a gaff, yet. Or was it a trap of some kind, he had just left for her to fall into. Dawn made a face. She knew that she was very good at her job, but right then. She did not know what way the statement might break. She decided just to stick to her game plan, as if he had not said a word after asking about them. Sometimes putting most of your cards on the table was the best bet.

"Captain Copeland, you should not have told me that. Now I know how much you need them, so I could stick it to you on the price." Dawn said between a few mouths full of amazing tasting food. She had already added it to her short list of restaurants to eat at, in the near future.

Robert looked at her and smiled, as he wiped some red sauce from the side of his mouth with a thick paper napkin. "Not really. We had a good look at them and their logbooks, already. I know that they are almost new, so I think five point five is a good price for the group of four machines." Robert met the eyes of Lora. She had thought they could have gotten the machines for a little cheaper. Robert agreed in his mind, but it would have taken a lot of time to get a little lower price. And in the end, Lora might have been wrong about getting a little price cut on the four machines.

Dawn just said one word. "Done."

Dawn did not want to say more, because she did not trust her voice. She had just busted two goals, in one deal. She now had the most sales in a day and selling of eight machines in a day. That was two full lances of equipment. And she had done it all with one word, that was on top of the single lance bonus she had gotten with the Rock Hounds. Dawn did some typing on her computer, and Lora sent the note to authorize the funds to be moved to the MMM bank account. When Dawn's noteputor buzzed to get her attention, a few seconds later. She looked down at the message from her next two higher supervisors displayed on her screen.

It was a very short, but a powerful message that she read. They wanted to congratulate her on breaking the single day sells record, for the highest total sales in millions of C-Bills. She had totally forgotten about that company goal. Maybe she would go and have another look at that house on the hill she had always wanted. She did not have the down payment, that was needed the first time she had seen it. She now had the down payment and maybe a few years' worth of mortgage payments. She had done it all in one afternoon of work. It was all luck, and because someone in the office had wanted to make her look bad. "Maybe living well is always the best revenge, like mom always had said. I am still going to kick someone in the ovaries."

Robert looked over at Dawn, as she was reading something on her minicomputer. Whatever it was she was reading? It must have been good, because she had a sly smile on her face. Robert thought it might be a few messages from her boss. He knew it was not every day that someone sold over ten million C-Bills worth of equipment, in one day.

Robert thought, "Now is the time to finish this, if I can."

Robert looked around the table. It was covered in plastic plates that were mostly cleaned of food, and many empty bottles of beer and fruit drink. "Well Dawn, looks like we are almost done. We are almost up to the top end, of what I have budgeted to buy items with today. I think we can get a few more items, that are on my list and that you might be able to fill for us. I want to know what you can do for the four Carbines and that big." Robert paused while he looked at an image on Lora's device, before continuing talking. "There we are. It's called a Dig King. It's the 65ton mining mech." Robert looked at Dawn waiting for a reply. He could tell that he had her undivided attention again. The food might be good, but it was not that good.

Dawn's head shot up from her noteputor like a snake and looked at Robert. The last bit of food was a little harder to get down her throat. "Well, they want another five machines. Let's see how I can skin this cat?"

Dawn rocked back in her chair, with her arms stretched out and the hands going flat on the table. She was looking at Robert, but she was also watching Lora out of the corner of her eye. She knows, "he must have noticed her reading the messages and guessed what they might be about." She had to fight to keep her work face on.

Dawn went back to her computer and looked up the sale slips for each of the five machines, that he had asked about. She was not going to be caught flat footed, like what had happened with the Rock Otter. Very quickly she did the math, in her head. She did all of this in under a minute. She was not just a pretty face with long legs. After all the Magistracy of Canopus was a female dominated society since 2530.

"Robert, the list price for all five machines would be around ten point one million C-Bills. I know that you do not want to pay that much, for all of them. So why don't you tell me what you think you can get them for, and I will see if "we" agree."

While she was talking to Robert, she sent two messages out to all of her supervisors in the building. In as few as words as possible. She told them that the deals were still not done tonight, and that another lance might be in the works. She was thinking that those messages should get them bouncing against and off of the Show Room's walls, again. She had to fight a smile down, at the images of what her short messages were going to cause in the building behind her. They would be trying to figure out what was going to move next. Dawn could have sent them a message about what they were looking at, but she did not do this on purpose.

Robert was taking the lead on this one, just as he and Lora had worked out. "Well, Dawn. How about we look at the down sides first, so we can take that ten million number right off the table. The four 30ton Carbines are old, dirty, and according to your own books. You have been renting them out for all most a full decade, and they have been on the side markets for longer than that without any buyer coming forward. I'm not going to pay one point four million for each of them. The Dig King is over a hundred years old, if the data plate is correct. I think your company has been trying to sell it for, I think longer than you have been alive. Lora tracked down some information, on the net. And she found that MMM has raised and lowered the asking price, so many times it's not funny. I would bet that every time someone new takes over the Sales Department. The first thing they do, is mess with its price. Just trying to get that much red ink, off the books. It such a specialized machine. That no one on this planet has rented it from you, in how long. Am I right, Dawn? The area under the foot pads has deformed, because it has not moved in so long. Mike and I don't think your people have been parking it in exactly the same place, after each use." Robert had a twinkle in his eyes. He knew that he had a lot of high cards on this one. He had not thought that he would be able to get the mining mech or the last two Carbines. They have saved so much money so far, that now they were in play. He really did have a maximum he wanted to spend to night.

Dawn was blinking fast as she double checked the information on her own machine. In her mind she was working out what to do. Sometimes she hates it, when someone does their homework. "Looks like the good Captain is playing for keeps on this one." The really bad part? It was that when she checked her notes, everything he said was true. The only thing that she had working for her, was that it was obvious that he wanted them. He wanted them badly. But what she did not know was, would he walk away from them if the price was not right?

"Now how do I play this," Dawn thought to herself? "Captain it's getting late. I think we need to agree on the Carbines first, then we can worry about the big boy later. I can go as low as one point two for each of the construction machines. For what we are renting them for, over the last year? Any lower, and it would be better just to keep them. We can just keep renting them out as someone needs them, and we can make more money. In the long run, of say a year to twenty-four months and they will be paid off. After that? It will be almost all profit generation, after paying for maintenance."

Robert was drumming his fingers on the thick plastic covered table. He was letting the pressure build, as he stayed quiet for long minutes. That was a little better price than he hoped for the workmechs, but he did not want to let her know it. He would have paid no more than one point two five, for each of the mechs. You never wanted to pay the retail price. Not when you had to sell it to someone else, and still make a profit. If you did that? You would not stay in business for long. But these machines were hard to find without going in deeper to the inner sphere, or at a capital system, or be on some other major world. On the other hand? They were used machines, and you do not pay new car prices for a used machine no matter where you were. Robert had to keep with his cover story, and that took the retail price right off the table. It was just a good thing that high command was not that worried about making a profit. It was more worried about getting the needed items.

"Dawn, I don't know if that is that great of an offer on those mechs or not. Then again, I will agree to that price and take all four." Robert did a "slight of hand" to distract her with an off-topic question. "So, Dawn. What do you get for selling the number of machines equal to a full-strength company? I know that they might not be a combat company. I think a fully equipped engineer company, is a nice bit of merchandise to move in only one day?"

Dawn looked around the table, and then looked back to Robert. Then she shrugged her shoulders. "To tell you the truth, I have no idea. This is so far out of the normal for me, and anyone else in the building. I have never even talked about something like this at the water cooler, it's not even funny. I just hope my bosses don't try to rip me off later. As far as I know, it is that we only have a lance and two lance sales bonuses. The only reason I know about the two-lance bump, is that I looked it up before we had dinner."

She looked back down at the screen of her hand-held system. Her system had all the information that Lora's had, but it also had the additional information of what was the lowest price a certain machine could be sold for. It also had the proprietary information of MMM. If someone sold a machine for more than that number? They would get an extra cut of the profits on the sale, as their commission. That was true of every machine in the Show Room, and it was true of a lot of their machines on the back lot. The bad part was the Dig King, it did not have that information on her system. She had gone to all of the "Normal" places, but they all were missing some key information.

It had everything you could think of about the ancient machine, and its known history. It had its current list price of four point five million C-Bills. It also had the price history going back decades, on the rise and fall of that list price. She picked a price, that was it the middle of the graph of highs and lows. It would be the safest bet, and it was one that she could defend if her boss called her on the carpet about the sale price being too low. With all of the sales she had done tonight. She did not think that it would be that big of a deal, even if it was too low by a large margin.

"I think three point five million is a fair price for a machine, that massive. I bet you have some ideas about changing up its current working tools, for something else more aggressive. Like say, a heavy wrecking ball of some kind?" Dawn folded her hands on top of her sales computer.

Robert gave a loud laugh, that carried over to the still waiting vender cart. "If I knew, that they had more of these Dig Kings where we are going? I would pay that, but there is no way to be sure. It's not like I can go into all the mines, in all the systems, and do a head count or inventory on what is on those properties. I also have no idea what the end user will end up outfitting it with. So, I'm not paying that price ether. How is MMM set for spare parts to support it? Because that is what is holding me back from buying it, now. That is, how am I going to support it, when we leave this planet."

That was true, for the most part. He knew that New Circe did not have any of this class of mech, but he thought it would be a great help in the war effort. The problem was supporting a one-off machine, with limited support supplied on planet. That is what was supplied by the small industrial base that could be directed at it, once they get home. They could support a lance of war machines or a one of a kind industrial machine. It that was the case? That one machine had better be very good at its job. If it was not… Well, there was always room in the junkyard with the rest of the Rusties. It would not be the first time that something was brought back from a mission, and that later proved to not be useful enough to developed long term support. The clan would use it until it was no longer effective at its given job or mission. That might not be likely, now that the only line that usually produced replacement parts for all of the workmechs/agromechs on the planet was not doing so. It was now making parts for the ground force mechs and some key components for aerospace fighters.

"If you have enough spare parts, and attachments to last for a few years. For let's say for five years or so. Then I will pay three million to you for it, tonight." Robert folded his arms across his chest. He would walk away from this machine tonight. He could always come back another day, or just forget about it.

Dawn did not know what to say, so she just sat there thinking. There was no way for her to know what spare parts were available or on hand for that thing. If it had been a Wasp or Locust? She had an idea, even with the Atlas. She knew that they had years' worth of spare parts stored in the main warehouse for that Assault mech, but she did not know if it was five years' worth of parts. She had seen them once on a tour of the main production facility. From what she had heard. They were trying to have enough parts on hand to fix up a second 100ton machine in a year or so, just from the extra parts that they had found. Soon all they would need was another Foundation Type 10x chassis in decent enough shape, and those were not found at the corner drug store.

"Robert, I do not have access to that information. Let me go see if I can find it. This one, I'm going to have to kick up to someone higher in my food chain." The Sales Rep stood up from the table and walked back into the building with quick steps. She hated not having the answer, and she was also not liking that she was going to have to deal with one of her bosses to find out the information she was lacking. It was getting late, but she was wired on adrenaline. She was going to need it to deal with her boss, in the next few minutes. That was a bit of a buzz kill.

Dawn did not know it, but two of her bosses had been watching the whole time via the security cameras mounted on the outside of the building. They even had ordered that the few cameras mounted on the access gate looking towards the back part of the yard, to be shifted so that they were looking their way. They could not hear what was going on, but they could see them working. Then magically they would see the funds transfer to the sales account. So, they knew that she was still making them money, and lots of it tonight. It was remarked and noted, that neither Dawn nor the group made any odd gestures when a sale was complete. They had expected a flurry of handshakes or touched glasses to close deals on this magnitude.

Normally it took weeks if not months, to set up sells that were not equal to half of what Dawn had pulled off this afternoon and evening alone. They had no idea if it all had been luck, or if it had been Dawn's selling skills. They had no idea. That they just happened to have, what Captain Copeland had been ordered to buy for the good of his Clan. They had just been lucky that Dawn had asked the right questions and had been willing to listen, and maybe take the low-end sale. That listening had turned into a massive amount of money for their department to night.

Dawn was a little startled, when her supervisors were waiting for her as she re-entered the building. Since Captain Copeland and his group were still setting outside. They knew something must have come up, and they wanted to know what it was. They hope the money faucet was not closed for the night. They had gotten used to the numbers in their account climbing at a steady rate. It was a very novel experience for them, and they liked it.

Dawn's first line supervisor was missing, but her second line was the first of the two women to talk to her. She had sweat visibly beading up on her forehead. She seemed to have already gotten over losing the number one single day sales of total mechs of all times title. Granted she was still getting a cut of what her salesperson was making tonight. That had to take the sting out of losing the title, somewhat.

"You're doing a great job, Dawn. They are still outside in the dark. Is something wrong?" She was fidgeting left and right, and she was rubbing her hands together as she was talking to Dawn. She had just finished her second pot of coffee on an empty stomach, and it was showing.

Dawn had a flash of a few things she would like to have said, but she decided that she would keep it civil instead. "I'm glad you're still here. They want five more machines. They want the four Carbines and that old Dig King. They have agreed to part of the deal. They will pay four point eight million for the four Carbines. The problem is the Dig King."

She passed her noteputor with the image of the mech in question displayed on the screen, with all the information on it. "I don't know how low I can go. They have done their homework, so they know we have been trying to sell that thing for almost forever. The kicker is they want enough spare parts to keep it running for five years of standard wear and tear. I have no idea if we have that kind of stock, for that hunk of junk. If I agree to that, and we don't have it? Well you know he could take us to court, and he would win for breach of contract. Right now, the Carbine deal is on hold. He offered three million for the King, but only if we have the amount of spare parts he wants."

The last part was a lie, and she knew it. But it was her job to make the deal, and if that little push was what was needed to get the deal closed? She would do it and do it again twice on Sunday. She would take the sale and commission with a smile on her face, and not say a word edge wise to anyone in her company for as long as she could.

Shelley was the supervisor for the whole Show Room department, and she also was Dawn's boss's boss. She was not known for expressions of emotions, of any kind. She took the title of "Ice Queen" as a badge of honor. That meant when the older lady shrieked and started jumping up and down. Much less when she started dancing around in a circle, both of her subordinates were speechless. When the normally reserved supervisor stopped the movements, that many would never believe she would undertake. She had a huge smile on her face.

"Dawn take the deal! We have almost enough parts to make a second machine, and they can have all of them. The savings on our taxes at the end of this year alone, will make it worth it. If they had not made an offer already? I would say give it to them, and all the parts we have on hand, as a comp for the amount of money they have spent here already."

Shelley stopped talking for a second and she went from a sack of joy, and back to her normal stone face. "Damn it! I don't know if that is enough to meet their requirements. I want you to make a counteroffer of two million C-Bills and tell them that we will give them every spare part, that we can find for it. Take their money dear and close the deal. Do you know if there is anything else, they might be looking at?" The last was so fast and in an odd accent, that no one understood what she had said for a few long seconds.

Dawn looked at the two other people near her with some confusion evident on her face. She went with addressing the last question first. "No. This Lora Noone and Captain Copeland play their cards very close to their chests. Do you want me to comp them the Dig King and parts?" This was a new area. She was never allowed to offer comps on anything but free food, drinks, maybe a few ammunition reloads, threat software updates, or some spare armor plates before. She was testing the waters, but she was unsure of the depth.

Shelly looked at Dawn and her quick mind came up with an idea for later. "No, Dawn. You should never leave money on the table. They made a good faith offer, with conditions. We will meet them at least on most of those conditions, so they should meet their end of the good faith offer. It is not your fault, that they did not ask for a comp of any kind before making that offer. You never know? These people are strangers, that have never been here before. A comp might be an insult to them. As soon as they transfer the funds and we get all the paperwork done, when they are done? We all can go home with dreams of large commission checks in our future. It will be an early morning for some of us, just so we can make sure we get these things off our property. Now I will be able to put a notice with the main office and try to get some better equipment, to replace that stuff you have been able to move." She had almost said junk but had stopped at the last moment. It was not nice, to call something junk. That you had just sold and was paying you a massive part of your whole years pay. All in a single night.

Dawn nodded her head in agreement and turn for the door. Thinking about when she got her commission check, at the end of the month. She was definitely going to take a few weeks off and relax. As she walked back to the table, she had a smile on her face that was not fake. When she was close to the table, she raised her voice a little. She did not see the need to be quiet.

"Good news. I was told, that there are almost enough spare parts to make a second mech on hand. They don't know if it will cover all the normal wear and tear items for a five-year period, but it should be close. They will pack every one of the spare parts, that we have on hand and bring them out to the drop port. I was told to counter your offer with two million. That is accepted by my boss already, if you agree to our counteroffer. And so as soon as we have payment? It is yours, Captain." She saw smiles on the faces around the table. She noted that the Captain made a gesture to Lora. Dawn kept getting closer and soon was standing, so that she could look down on Lora.

Dawn looked over at Lora, who she noticed was finishing the transfer of funds for the five machines. She put on a beaming smile and looked over at Robert. "Well, sir. They are all yours. Would you like to look at what we have at some of our outlying showrooms, or in the main Warehouse? I can have someone pull the inventory list for you. It might take a few days, but we can have them shipped in for your inspection or you can fly out to see them. I'm sure we could have a proper passenger VTOL ready by the afternoon." Dawn asked hopefully. This group had just purchased every operational work mech that the Show Room had, that were not already being rented out.

Robert laughed slightly, waved off her comment and shook his head side to side. "No, Dawn. I think you have taken enough of our funds, for the time being. We have some other items, that we have people looking at for us. If you have something we can take and look at, when we have some spare time? That would be nice. We will post an updated wish list, on the normal spots' tomorrow. If you see an item on that list that you can fill? Then by all means, contact us. I look forward to doing business with you again, Dawn. Now, it's late and I would like to get back to my cabin. I need to get some sleep, before I have to start this kind of work all over again. I know, that I said, I would like the machines on the dropship by noon. I don't think that will be likely, now. If you can start dropping them off starting at noon? That would be good enough. I must have them all by dark, to include the spare parts you promised for the Dig Lord. My Cargo Master can get them packed down in our cargo bays, as they come in. Please do not wait to the last minute to send them over. If you have a load, just send it over. My people will take care of it." Robert started to stand up and the others of his group joined him, in rising from the cheap glass covered plastic outdoor table.

Robert looked around the lot with the mechs, tanks and other military equipment spread out around him. Out of the blue, he tried to picture, in his head, what it was going to look like by this time tomorrow. He had to fight down a smile, and he turned around a little to block Dawn from seeing it. He was betting that it was going to take a while to fill the empty slots. "I don't think you are going to have any parking issues out here, for a while."

"Well I guess they got what they wanted, out of me. I know that they did not run out of money. They are still looking for more cargos. I just need to find something else, that they want." Dawn had thought the last deal was the end, but she had to at least try to get one more sale in. Or at least try, to get one more in. That was because, if she did not? She would always second guess herself, that they might have been talked into another sale if she pushed just a little harder. That was the salesperson in her soul telling her that. She looked down at her noteputor and fought down a shout, as her eyes ran across her little screen. She had just been given a surprise by her company.

The company supplied digital pad now had a newly modified screen saver. It now had her name in bold letters and that she had sold over 21 million C-Bills worth or over 81 million MC Dollars' worth of equipment in a day. It even had little flashing fireworks going off in the area around her name. That new screen saver would be pushed to every computer in her division, at least. It would stay there, minus the little fireworks. Those would stop in a few days, but her name would be there until something else on that scale was completed, by someone else. That was going to be some time down the road, if she was a betting person.

While she was fighting the urge to dance, she saw the book that woman called Jess had been spending all night looking through page by page like it was holy writ of some kind. Jess and Mike had been acting like it was the best book ever written by man. When she thought about it, both leaders of this group had like that book. She made a quick note to have the newest edition gift wrapped and sent with the mechs the next day. She had no idea how long she was distracted, but by the time she came back to the world she saw a problem.

Then she had to catch up with the group walking away from her. They could not leave the building, because all the doors had been locked now that it was after normal work hours. She opened the main door and wave to the group as they entered the sedan, that had dropped them off, and then it had waited till they were done with their shopping spree. She had no idea that it only had been called back while she had been inside the Showroom building, talking to her boss. Dawn just saw it as another example of wealth, that they had a nice car and driver waiting at their beck and call.

"It must be nice to have that much money." Dawn thought as she relocks and then tries to open the heavy glass and steel doors. "Maybe I will be there soon." This sales commission would put her a lot closer to that level. She was now closer than she had been, when she got out of bed this morning. She thought that she had made over a years' worth of her average commissions, tonight.

The ride in the sedan back to the dropship, was not as fast as the ride out. All of the clubs, restaurants, and bars were all open and filled with people spending their money in those types of places. Those establishments were the life blood for the city, outside of the income that the drop port brought in with cargos. It was very common that a city's main clubbing and entertainment district would be very close to the drop ports, in most of human control space. It also made vehicle traffic hazardous in those areas.

The group in the back of the sedan did not say anything, as they made their way back to their mobile home. The driver took them right to the correct Mule class dropship without needing any direction. There were over a dozen of that class of ship spread out over the space port to night. The driver got out and opened the door, that Captain Copeland was exiting out of the transport with. Robert pulled out a bill from his jumpsuit pocket and handed it over to the driver. The Driver at first was going to refuse the tip. It was against company policy, to take money from a client while on the clock. That was until he saw the tip was a 100 C-Bill note. After picking up his slacked jaw, he just pocketed the money. He just nodded and said a simple "Thank you Sir." Before helping Jess, who was following Robert out the same opened door.

Lora saw the hand off but waited for the driver to reenter the sedan, and he had pulled away from the grounded Dropship. Robert had already turned and had taken a few steps toward the open personnel ramp of the dropship, when she spoke to him. "Robert, the current exchange rate for C-Bills to MC Dollars is a little over 1 to 4. Four hundred MC dollars is about what a driver like him makes, in a month." The tone was not mocking, it was just a question. Lora had even made her statement with a raised eyebrow.

Robert stopped, gave a slight shrug, and then gave an odd little toss of his head. "It was worth it to me. Think about how he had to wait, to even go to the bathroom, because we did not tell him how long we were going to be someplace. We sent him away, when we knew, that we were going to be in the showroom for a while. But it was the same driver, that we had been using all day. That alone was worth, what I gave him. That and the knowledge that I used a bank note, that we cannot spend back home. That makes doing the right thing, a lot easier. If it gets some goodwill for us? Then that would just be a bonus, in my book. You never know when we or you, might need some of that goodwill from a stranger or maybe from someone that this driver knows."

Robert started to walk up the entry way to the ship, then stopped. "Lora? We have a few empty bunks. If you want to stay here, instead of going all the way back to your place?" Robert stopped talking and looked down at his expensive pocket timepiece. "We have a meeting in seven hours, so much for getting back early so I could get some sleep." He gave a soft chuckle.

"No thank you, Robert. I have a room above the Café, for times like this. Thank you for the offer. Maybe if I had my overnight bag with me. What would Don think? If I showed up in the same clothes, as I had on the day before?" She turned and walked to the pickup point where another sedan, this one with yellow letters on the sides, was waiting for her.

Robert, and the other two continued into the dropship. As soon as the last person's feet hit the inside of the ship. The ramp and hatch closed and locked behind them with barely a sound. Mike went one way to his four-man cabin, and Jess went another. Maybe to sleep and maybe to work. No one would know for a while what they were going to do, now that they were back to their temporary home. Robert started climbing stairs after sets of stairs, going all the way to the top of the dropship. It was a long climb. There was an elevator, but Robert felt like he needed to work off some of the food he had been eating for the last two days.

Robert stopped by the bridge to check in on the status of his command, both on the ground and far out into space. There was nothing to report, that was out of the ordinary for a jumpship and drops-ship's crew during shore leave. After that short briefing. He walked back to his cabin for some much-needed sleep. The sun rose to early, so he could not take advantage of getting as much sleep as he needed.

Robert was sleeping so deeply, that he did not hear the alarms going off an hour after he crawled under the sheets. In fact, he was sleeping so soundly. That he did not wake up for his wakeup alarm, at all. One of the Bridge crew had to come down to his room and use the built-in speaker system on his hatch to successfully disturb his sleep. Robert had not wakened up well, after that blast of noise from his hatch. When he had not checked in? Jules had made the call to send someone down, so that he could make the morning meeting on time. As a longtime friend. He knew how long, down to the minute, it would take his friend to get ready for the meeting.

Notes

Shopping for workmechs at a major Show room. It would be like looking for a John Deere, at your local Cadillac dealer.

The book on the drink cart? It is like a current All of The Worlds Armor Jane's book, and you should see what one of the new ones cost to buy these days.

Why did I choose those particular workmechs? I picked the ones that I could find the cost of. It was that simple.