“So, yes, it looks as though I can get the food, but there’s just one problem: I don’t like it,” Lilliana said.
“As much as that speaks ill of your taste, I fail to see its relevance,” Galatea said. “You aren’t going to be eating it.”
“I mean the deal,” Lilliana said. “Something about it feels wrong.”
“The deal is for payment on delivery, is it not?” Galatea said. “And even if it were possible for someone to perform some sort of confidence trick, you… we… would be out nothing more than a modest outlay of funds.”
“A modest outlay of our modest funds,” Lilliana said. “That’s the kind of modesty I find very unbecoming.”
“If you’re not willing to commit funds for my sake, then this shouldn’t be an issue to begin with,” Galatea said. “If your sole concern is that the money may be spent with nothing to show for it, I tell you that I would rather take the risk of getting nothing and, should the gambit fail I would accept the consequences gracefully and push the matter no further.”
“Yeah, I somehow doubt that,” Lilliana said. “But in any event, you do have a point: this is basically your food allowance we’re talking about. If it were only the possibility of being scammed that worried me… well, I’m not actually that worried about that. I know how to deal with a scammer. There are social consequences for that sort of thing, which is why I don’t do it on the open trade channels. Beyond that, I have to believe the Galactic Navy would frown on something that reflected so badly on them. I can’t believe a GCN officer would risk his career trying to make a little money pretending to sell something he could sell for real.”
“So once again it all comes down to the fact that you have no good reason not to follow through with this deal.”
“Listening to my gut is always a good reason,” Lilliana said. “And I’m not giving up on this thing… I’m just trying to figure it out. Galatea, do you think that the GC would be trying to find you?”
“What?”
“It’s the only angle I can make sense of,” Lilliana said. “It feels like someone’s on a fishing expedition, and what else would they be fishing for? Nobody eats Galactic food except for Galactic citizens.”
“I am not a fugitive,” Galatea said. “I don’t hold any state secrets. I don’t exactly think there’s any reason for the Galactic Confederation to come sniffing around after me like I’m some kind of… of…”
“Truant schoolchild?” Lilliana suggested.
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