Chapter 1069: The Market Below

"Sorry that we are late, we got a bit delayed at breakfast." Max greeted the small group of VIP guests who were waiting at the hangar bay where Nico had moved their yacht.

"It has been spectacular, Commander, the views are perfectly aligned." One of the ladies in the group, who was accompanying a government minister, simpered in a fake sultry tone that grated on Max's nerves.

Each of the five invited guests had brought their plus one and a servant for the trip to the surface, as they were all planning to stay there for two nights.

Max noticed that some of them still had overnight bags with them, so he sent a silent message to Nico.

[Find some of the cheapest flat space watches that we have and then make them look classy. I want to give them to these people as a gift.] Max informed Nico through their implanted communicators.

[On it, they're waiting on the bedroom tables in the suites. I put a simple looking one in the staff quarters as well, because they're the ones who will be forced to carry most of the luggage anyhow.]

"Everyone, please follow us inside, and you can place your luggage in the secured closet of the yacht, or with your staff member, their rooms have storage specifically for this situation. As I understand it, we will be headed for the business region of the planet. The luxury there should be no less than where the rest of the guests are headed, but it is more exclusive, with smaller crowds." Max announced with a grand gesture toward the ramp.

All the guests were eager to see what the private yacht of a Reaver Commander looked like, and the interior of this one was sure to satisfy. It had originally been made by Nico to impress her mother and the other Reaver Commanders, and they'd just been using it ever since, so it was possibly the most fashionable small luxury vessel within ten star systems of here.

Everyone stepped to their room to put down their bags and change into more formal outfits for their landfall in the business district.

The Admiral had hand-picked them because they had connections here, and the communication logs showed that they had all been in contact with the surface already, so the group should blend right in. That was perfect for their purposes, as Max wanted as many people that the local police wouldn't dare question, much less apprehend, to be present when he moved the delivery off the ship.

[Terminus One, you are clear for entry from orbit. Please follow the precise path laid out for you to avoid interfering with traffic.] The planet's air traffic controller informed them.

[Understood Control, we have the course entered.]

Nico guided the yacht out into the void of space, and down toward the planet, smoothly manoeuvring between the upward paths of the shuttles sent to gather the common guests from Terminus, and the daily traffic from the station, bringing down necessary foreign goods.

"This is the smoothest entry I've ever experienced in a yacht. Are these available from the Terminus Trading Company?" One of the guests asked as they passed through the stratosphere on the way down, and flames briefly flickered around their shielding before the energy barrier adjusted to lower the friction with the surrounding atmosphere.

"It is. In fact, you can fully customize the interior to your personal preferences, and if you should choose to pay the premium, we will reserve a layout and interior package exclusively for you, or name it after you when it is offered to other customers." Max informed him.

That caught his attention. Having an interior scheme for a luxury yacht named after you was a big deal. There were only so many good combinations, so rather than making yours exclusive, forcing everyone else who wanted it to order it under your name was a much better way to stroke the ego of the ultra-wealthy.

They might not have heard of you, or even the planet you called home, but once they found the interior package with your name on it, they would know that you had money like that.

"We only have six more minutes before landing, but here is the data package for our custom ship design line. This is one of the smaller models that we offer, and we do offer ships up to Cutter Class, should you require more space for group excursions or personal relaxation." Max added with a smile as he transferred the file.

Of course, the first thing that the man did was open the Cutter Class section and check out the personalized interior schemes. There were Sector Governors there, Central Government Ministers, members of the various Royal Families, and at the end, one strange reference that didn't seem to match the others.

The last one on the list was the DiFranco Pizzeria on Jo ram Space Station.

A Cutter Class ship cost hundreds of billions of credits, plus the markup for an exclusive pattern, so the attribution to a small pizza place on a remote space station had to be a joke by the multinational conglomerate that owned it. Or so he assumed.

That was all he had time to actually check before the Pilot announced that they were landing.

The ship made a short loop around the landing zone, getting in position for the approved approach, and the yacht gently set down on the pad with a hiss of compressed Nitrogen gas, ejected to cool incoming ships.

It was only a short burst before the ground handlers realized that their shields had adjusted the hull temperature to ambient temperature by the time that they landed. Max laughed as they got excited and told their coworkers all about it, as if they hadn't been here to see it as well.

Nico extended the ramp, and the ground crew came up to the bottom in their uniform pinstriped suits to welcome the VIP guests.

"Welcome to the Cherry Resort Spaceport, esteemed guests. Would you like for us to bring your baggage, or have you arrived with staff?" The concierge asked.

"We have staff with us, thank you. Our flight was a bit short to freshen up, could we spend a moment in our rooms before we head down for lunch?" One of the politicians asked, with a wink that made sure everyone on staff knew that he would need more than a moment with his date before they "freshened up."

"Of course, sir. Please follow me this way."

One after another, the guests were escorted away until only Max and Nico remained, with one staff member and the ground handlers.

"I have a delivery for a nearby storage facility, their personnel should be on the way." Max informed the remaining assistant.

"Of course sir, might I see your paperwork?"

Max transferred the documents that they had made up for the transfer, and the hotel staffer nodded happily. "Wonderful, we have been waiting for these fruits. I will make sure that the processing staff takes good care of the crates."

Max sensed the man's desire for a bribe involving the rare fruits that were supposed to be coming to the hotel's supplier, instead of the replicators, but that was an easy fix.

He sent a message to the Android staff on board, and they made a crate from the Replicators and brought it down, enclosed in a sealed transport case.

"A small gratuity for your fine service today." Max explained, and the remaining staff shared a knowing smile.

"Thank you very much, Lord Commander. I see the delivery trucks now."

It was a flatbed buggy, like the modified golf carts they used on Terminus to move goods around the hallways, but it was large enough to take all ten replication machines in their false packaging.

The Androids quickly loaded everything, while the ground handlers gave them shocked looks.

"Humans are inordinately strong, aren't they?" The assistant asked, while one of the handlers whisked away his bribe before the bosses saw it.

"Those are androids, actually. They make excellent ship's crew, as they never sleep, they're impervious to small arms fire, and have a maximum running speed exceeding a hundred kilometres an hour." Nico explained with a smile.

The staff hadn't been planning to try to tamper with the ship before, but they definitely weren't now.

The delivery truck vanished back into a tunnel that led underground, and Nico nodded to Max to inform him that she had fixed the camera footage since their arrival.

"Now that all the business is taken care of, perhaps you could show us around the local area a bit while the others rest? I would like to see what sort of shops and markets this world has to offer." Max requested.

"Of course, sir. Might I recommend that you start down the road with the subterranean trade market zone, and then move on to the imported goods shops to your east, before coming back up into the resort for a spot of lunch at the resort's trade bazaar? The food carts are renowned in this world. Just present them with your guest ID and they will drop the charges." The assistant agreed, and handed them a pair of golden bracelets.

Nico's thoughts said that they had a tracker, a room key and a hotel account number in them, so they could be used to keep inventory as the guests went shopping.

"Thank you very much. Would you care to accompany us? I'm sure you know the area well, being a local." Max offered.

"Unfortunately, my duties are here in the resort, but we do have an offsite guide available. Should I fetch her for you?"

His thoughts said that it was a daughter of one of the Resort's managers, who was in on the smuggling scam, so Max smiled back at the assistant.

"Please do."