To infinity and beyond!

Captain Sunlight used her own yellow hand for a facepalm. “Amethyst.”

“It’s not a lot of debt! We’ll get it paid off!”

“Please tell me you didn’t set up shop on an unbreathable moon because you thought the Seers are less likely to look for you there.”

“What? They are! And anyways, we would have gotten it paid off already if the hybrid color looked the way it was supposed to.” He waved at the open box at their feet.

Paint and Captain Sunlight both followed his gaze, then looked up and caught sight of me lingering in the doorway.

“Uh, hi,” I said. “Just curious about the smell.” A puff of air from above told me the filters had just kicked into higher gear.

Captain Sunlight introduced me, making a visible effort to look professionally crisp instead of exasperated. “Robin, this is Amethyst, an old friend from a previous ship. He’s currently growing fruit on a moon with unfortunate air quality, and this box wasn’t properly ventilated before sealing.”

Amethyst protested, “We usually just let them air out at the market. It’s outdoors; the gas disappears fast.”

Paint asked him, “Do you think people would buy more if they didn’t smell bad, though?”

“They don’t!” he said. “The berries smell good! It’s just the air!” He bent and plucked something small from the box, holding it out to her insistently.

I strolled forward while Paint took the berry hesitantly. At Amethyst’s urging, Paint tasted the berry and said with some surprise that it was very good.

“See? Our customers love them! They’d just love them more if the colors had blended like they were supposed to.”

Now that I was close enough to look into the box, I saw an insulated pile of what looked like red blueberries with darker speckles. Amethyst picked out another one and handed it to me, held between delicate claws.

I took it, glancing at the captain. “Do I need to check with Eggskin to make sure this is human-safe?” I’d met precious few food-berries that weren’t, but our cook/medic would have been very irritated with me if I’d been incautious on the rare occasion that one wasn’t safe.

Captain Sunlight shook her head. “It’s fine; you’ve had these before. They’re just a different color. And the air doesn’t affect more than ambiance.”

I nodded and inspected the berry. To my amusement, the three dark spots made a nearly perfect smily face. I opened my mouth to point it out, but they were already talking again.

Paint said, “I really do think the smell is scaring people off.”

“It dissipates so fast, though! Only the first few customers in the morning are even there to smell it!”

“Have you tried selling at different locations?” Captain Sunlight wanted to know. “You might have better luck at one of the big stations.”

“Sure, but everything in easy reach needs a bank connection before you even apply. And I swear some of them have Seers on staff just to make sure no dangerous criminals or whatever want to get a foothold.”

I was skeptical of that, but so were Paint and Captain Sunlight, so I let them debate the point. Elite telepathic crimestoppers seemed unlikely to hang out at a space station market, even a big one, but who was I to say? I’d hardly been on the lookout for them. One of the many benefits of operating on the straight and narrow without skipping out on a loan shark or whatever Amethyst had done.

While they talked in circles about the best way for him to pay off his debts and get the same kind of banking connection that most of the civilized galaxy had, I crouched to look at the rest of the berries.

Oh my gravity, they’re all like this. I carefully scooped up a handful, flicking a glance upward, and looked them over carefully. Every single one was red with a purplish smiley face. And when I remembered to taste the one in my other hand, I found that they were indeed very good.

I grinned up at the three Heatseekers, probably with berry juice in my teeth. “I have a suggestion.”

They looked down in surprise. Captain Sunlight prompted, “Yes?”

I held up a berry, face-side forward. “Do they all have this pattern? Not just this one box? Because that is something of a human sigil, representing happiness.”

“What?” Amethyst asked, eyes wide.

Captain Sunlight squinted at it. “Oh, that does look like the — what do you call it—”

“Smiley face!” Paint exclaimed in delight. “Do you think people would buy them just for that?”

“Absolutely they would,” I said. “Market them as ‘good luck berries, here to bring smiles into your life,’ and you’ll get a lot of attention. Especially if they’re in convenient little containers for people to take home and give to their friends.”

“Really??” Amethyst asked. “They … yeah, they do all have the same three spots. I had no idea it meant something. We do get humans coming through that market, but there’s a lot of competition for food.”

Captain Sunlight said, “Then I daresay you might get something of an edge over that competition with some new signs and labels. Would those be expensive to arrange?”

“No, we’ve got a good source for labels,” he said, clearly thinking quickly. “And we make the banners ourselves; got a couple talented artists. It could work.”

“And one other thought,” I said as I poured the berries back and stood up, knees protesting. “If you keep a few little boxes set aside with that stinky air deliberately trapped inside, you can sell those at a higher price for pranking friends.”

“Really?” he said again.

“Really really,” I told him. “If that side of things takes off, you can even branch out to selling whoopee cushions and fart machines with them. Maybe even some little electronics to play a noise when the box is opened.”

“But start small,” Captain Sunlight cautioned, sounding like she’d given him this advice before. “You have plenty to work with as-is.”

“Right, yes. Good luck happy faces and joke smells. Yes.” He nodded several times. “Okay, yes, I can work with that.”

Paint said, “And when you get set up with a regular payment system, you can set up shop at a big station, and do even better!”

Captain Sunlight added, “Maybe we’ll end up doing more deliveries for you, when your produce is in high demand everywhere.”

He smiled at that. “I’ll be sure to have some complimentary boxes set aside for your crew in gratitude.”

I grinned. “If they end up being the prank version, I won’t even be mad.”

~~~

Good news! Volume One of the collected series is now available in paperback and ebook form! (Check your local store, or this handy link hub.)

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These are the ongoing backstory adventures of the main character from this book.

Shared early on Patreon! There’s even a free tier to get them on the same day as the rest of the world.