Damn, that’s pretty fucking lucky, huh? Wonder who we should thank for that?”
Denver didn’t even have to knock. Doc ushered them both in as soon as he saw them. “You brought them all?” His hands were trembling. Denver had never seen Doc’s hands shake before.
“Everything you asked for.”
“Let me see.”
Denver opened up the belly of the machine while Laramie shut and locked the door behind them. The interior glowed green, lit by the indicators that showed the contents as viable. Doc pulled out and inspected several of the slides, and the shaking in his hands got worse.
“Potatoes,” he whispered. “There are potatoes here, five different varieties. And kale—I’ve never even seen kale before! Chard, onion, carrots…” He looked up at them, and his eyes were wet. “Oh, boys. You have no idea what a treasure you found.”
“I have enough of an idea to know that you need to pay us double for it.”
Denver glanced sharply at Laramie, but he didn’t budge.
Doc’s reverence turned to a sharp glare. “Now, see here, I’m the one risking my reputation and my freedom to help you—”
“Hey, we got them out. That was the hard part. You aren’t the only person who’s interested in having these kinds of resources at their fingertips. You know that.”
“You can’t trust a Luny like Gru. They’re all insane!”
“Maybe. Maybe not.”
Doc ground his teeth. “I don’t have that many credits available.”
“Then the formula for my medicine, and the equipment you use to make it,” Laramie interjected. “We’ll take that.”
Denver almost smacked himself on the head for not having thought of that sooner. Doc seemed to reinflate a little too. “That’s understandable. I can do that. It’s not the sort of thing that can just be whipped up on the fly, though,” he said. “I can give you instructions, but I’m not sure they’ll be much help.”
Laramie sounded more amused than offended.
“Think what you like,” Denver said, “as long as you give us accurate instructions.” They’d both been through trade school before taking up as salvagers, and Laramie’s illness had made them both experts on biology, to some extent. Add in OPAL and Marit’s abilities, and Denver wasn’t worried.
The transfer didn’t take long, in the end. They unloaded the biologicals into a cooler, Doc inventorying them with a look of pure need on his face as they did. Once the dialysis machine was empty, he quickly refilled it with slim stacks of chemical foils, the kind that would unbind and offload their components in the right circumstances. He added several replacement tubes and a small foldable, vented workstation that could be managed in a state of vacuum. There was also a data chip, which he handed to Laramie. “There. That’s everything you need for up to a three-year supply, as long as you’re careful.”
Denver repressed his urge to say thanks. “And the money?”
“Here.” He handed over an old-fashioned, luminous tab. “The money is ready to be transferred. Just input the correct routing number and it’ll go.”
Denver did so, warily. The screen blinked, then shut him out of the banking app. He pulled it up again and checked their account.
500,401 credits available.
Holy ever-loving god, they were rich. He tilted it toward Laramie, whose lips pursed in a silent whistle. “Damn. Nice doing business with you, Doc.”
The machine was no lighter, but pushing it seemed easier than before as they returned the way they’d just come. From this distance, Denver couldn’t tell if the alert in Sector Three had been turned off or not.
“Good call on the medicine,” Denver said.
“I ain’t just a pretty face.”
“I guess we should let Marit know we have the money and then get us outfitted for one hell of a trip.”
“You think?” Laramie clapped Denver on the shoulder. “You do that. I’ve got a few things to wrap up before we get out of here.”
“Such as?”
“Saying my goodbyes.”
“Oh, right.” After all, if things went well, they’d not only be leaving Titan X before the day was done, but they’d never be coming back. Denver hadn’t really factored in how Ginn might take that, but Laramie obviously had. “Take your time. I can get this back to the ship alone and deal with Gerald too, if I need to.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. Go and see Ginn.” Those were words that Denver had never thought he’d voluntarily speak, but he meant them.
“I’ll be back to the Jiminy soon.”
“Counting on it.”
Laramie disappeared down the next street, and Denver looked at the heavy machine