The Flea Market
While you are docked at Aeon Space Station you learn that not only do they house numerous dignitaries from various nearby solar systems, but they also host cultural exchanges on a regular basis. On this occasion, visitors from different corners of the galaxy have come to sell and trade just about anything imaginable and maybe even some things you would have previously considered unimaginable.
The area reserved for these vendors reminds you of some sort of perverse looking flea market. The place is like a writhing, pulsating organism, with strange creatures selling a variety of goods. Tall, spindly beings with multiple arms barter with short, stout creatures covered in feathers.
A cacophony of sound emanates from every corner ranging from foreign melodic languages, to guttural sounds, to chirping, clinking, and chittering.
It is a carnival of the bizarre and exotic. There are pulsing, glowing orbs that emit a soft, ethereal hum. Shimmering fabrics that seemed to change color with every breath. Strange fruits and vegetables with spines and tendrils, emitting tantalizing scents. Tiny, wriggling creatures in jars, their eyes following you as you pass by. Crystals that seemed to contain entire galaxies within them. And much more as each item seemed more alien and wondrous than the last.
Amid the various stands, a few booths caught your eye. There was a peculiar feathered creature with strangely jointed legs, selling a variety of unique plants and a particularly intriguing carnivorous tree that you might consider purchasing for a certain bald man on another space station.
At another booth, a pair of B’tor offered advanced technology. One of the most interesting items was a food molecular reorganizer capable of replicating virtually any dish while maintaining a high nutritional value. It can utilize a general nutrition slurry to imitate nearly any food imaginable with the added benefit that the resulting food will even be healthy. However, up to five percent protein in the slurry comes from deceased B’tor, which some find unsettling. Yet in their culture, it is seen as providing for future generations after death. And let’s be honest, the idea of having something other than terrible space rations on your ship is tempting enough to overlook any moral qualms.
A group of insectoid creatures were selling crystals with some very interesting features. One of them was chittering away with your engineer about a way that one of their crystals could be used to improve ship blasters by maintaining beam coherency further out.
The small, fast-talking creatures with brown fur and tails were promoting a chemical they produce naturally that increases productivity. They have now found a way to synthesize it for others to benefit from.
Lastly, there was a tentacled creature at a booth displaying mesmerizing fabrics that changed color as air moved over them. These would surely sell well on Zhian Prime for a nice profit.
Most of these purchases are probably going to set you back about 2,000 credits, although you might be able to talk the insectoid creatures down a little if you get them to split the pair of crystals.
If you are considering purchasing a carnivorous tree, read/listen to Story 82.
If you are considering purchasing a food molecular reorganizer, read/listen to Story 83.
If you are considering purchasing crystals to improve your blasters, read/listen to Story 84.
If you are considering purchasing a drug from the small furry creatures, read/listen to Story 85.
If you are considering purchasing some beautiful fabric, read/listen to Story 86.