saying? Butter wouldn’t melt in your mouth?”
“What does that even mean?” Denver asked.
“It refers to his physical temperature reflecting his emotional state,” OPAL said through the intercom. “But my sensor indicates Laramie’s physical temperatures are well within normal for a human, so I conclude that if he were to consume butter, it would in fact melt in his mouth.”
“Thanks,” Laramie muttered. “Now I’m craving butter.”
While Marit angled the Jiminy into the docking bay, Denver mulled over all the things they needed to do. They needed to find a way to have the pod’s nav file translated without attracting attention. As for their cargo, they had their legitimate salvage haul, which would be assessed by the imports inspector the next day, after which Titan Import Regulations would pay Denver a percentage before taking the entire shipment off their hands.
But when it came to the pod’s contents, Denver had no idea what to do. It made sense to keep some of it. It was all stuff they’d need if they managed to find the planet. But outfitting the Jiminy and her meager crew for such a voyage would take resources. Resources Denver didn’t have. And the legal salvage in their bay wouldn’t even come close to covering their expenses.
In short, they needed a fence.
Despite their “just this side of legal” existence, Denver’s crew had very little experience with the black market. Years ago, Denver had made contacts on Mars to find Laramie’s medical equipment. He’d met Marit that way, whose wife had died three weeks before the bureaucracy on Mars got around to rubber-stamping approval for the machine that would have saved her life. Laramie and Denver needed the machine but had almost no money to pay for it. Marit had the machine and wanted nothing more than passage off Mars. They’d made a trade that had kept them working together ever since. Sure, there was the occasional purchase of certain common recreational substances. But that was easy. Those could be found on any corner in the shadier districts of Titan X. What he needed now was much more dangerous, and therefore much more secretive. He needed access to the deep inner workings of the black market on Titan X, and that was something none of them had ever dealt with.
So how exactly did one go about finding their way in?
“We could go to Doc,” Denver said. “See who he knows, at least for the biologicals. He rents space in a greenhouse. Might know other people there who could deal with us.”
Denver would almost feel Laramie’s frown. Doc was their station resource for the infusions that kept Laramie’s body from completely turning on itself, and he didn’t hesitate to use their desperation against them. He was a son of a bitch, but so far he was the only source they had for the meds, so turning him down wasn’t an option.
“Then who do you have in mind?”
“Poppy,” Laramie said out loud.
“What?” Marit asked, keeping her eyes on the control panel as she settled the Jiminy into place.
“I was talking to Denver.” He swiveled in his seat to face Denver. “Ask Poppy.” He gave Denver a taunting grin.
“No.” Denver barely managed to say the word without growling.
Laramie didn’t say anything. Just gave a half shrug that seemed to translate to “there you go, then.”
“I suppose Poppy is a logical first step.”
Marit scowled as she turned off the engines, although whether it had to do with the Jiminy or Poppy or with Denver and Laramie inadvertently leaving her out of their conversation, Denver didn’t know.
“I don’t like it, though,” Denver added. “Poppy deals with too many people, and we know from experience she’s willing to sell what she knows, if the price is right.”
“So be subtle.”
Now it was Denver’s turn to scowl.
“She’ll at least be able to point you in the right direction,” Laramie said.
“What do you mean, point me in the right direction? Don’t you mean us?”
Laramie grinned and pushed himself out of his seat to edge past Denver. “I meant you and Marit.”
“What about you?” Marit asked. “You aren’t coming with us?”
Denver already knew the answer. He tried to keep from wincing when Laramie answered.
“Nope. I’ll catch up with you later.”
Marit waited until he was gone before muttering to Denver, “He’s going to see Ginn already? Hasn’t anybody ever explained the idea of playing