How to buy a flying motorhome on Jivada

Another work-in-process teaser, this one from Elbert, the first book in the Anye Constituency series. Illustration by Khoi Anh

Badari

The seller was a goat farmer, living on the rocky north coast not far from the SagGha temple where Guru Orsa disembarked the day they met him. He was Mahat Limar, talkative, apparently richer than King Midas, having a leasehold spanning a huge tract of land dotted with feed stalls and animal shelters.

The travel coach was kept in a barn, a space dedicated more to veterinary science than goat hospitality, but there was community on hand. Charlotte would have taken one home if she had a place to keep it. “This female is adorable!”

“They’re sweet, aren’t they?” He picked the kid up, allowing her to lick his face. “I send them off for processing.” He sniffed. “Couldn’t do it myself.”

“Papa slaughtered hogs as a boy.” She petted the animal. “But I’m with you.”

“Sir, you have more grit than I do.” He told the bus’s Oma to open the main hatch. “I bought it a year ago, knew the seller was a smoker, thought it wouldn’t matter.” The man stood aside while they entered. “It might not bother you, but furry people have sensitive noses.”

Elbert stood in the salon. “I can’t smell a thing.”

“Don’t be thinking you’ll take your Anye friends on vacation. One whiff of this, and they won’t come.” He led them into the galley. “I paid forty-four-hundred, which might sound like a lot for a thousand-year-old boat, but you can’t touch a new Pazca Townhouse for less than a million.”

Charlotte’s eyes were big as saucers. “No pushouts?”

“She’s a nineteen by six-meter double-decker. If you want something bigger, buy a space yacht.”

“We’re not doing that.” She leaned against a counter. “The soft goods look like they’ve been replaced.”

“They have. Didn’t help.”

Finishing the tour in the topside master’s suite, he gave them the hairy eyeball. “The man I talked to said his name was Alan Vanyati.”

“I’m Charlotte Banks. This is my father, Doctor Elbert Harrison. Alan is forming a management group to take over our museum and theater in PN.”

“That’s who I thought you were. Those H2 sons of bitches drove you out of business, didn’t they?”

She sighed. “We’re might still retain a minority interest.”

“What a shame.” The farmer dragged claws through his beard. “Auction hasn’t made the reserve. Do you intend to bid?”

“Can the two of us speak in private?”

Elbert followed his daughter into the command compartment. “You’ll have to rely on Alan’s advice.”

“I put in an order to convert my savings, but I don’t have the money yet.”

“I’m good for it.”

“I’ll pay you back.” She moved fingers in AR. “Oh, my God.”

The farmer called out from the salon. “Are you the high bidder at 3,800?”

“Yes!”

“I’m ending the auction. You bought it.”