Government Lot #7777-68

Conrad operated under the belief that if he earned ten million credits and had to give the dragon four million of those credits, then he still had six million credits to call his own. Even with inflation, six million credits were nothing to scoff at. Still, it was criminal the way taxes continually escalated.

After completing his cursory review of the crates, Conrad decided that G.L. #7777-68 was worth the gamble and added it to his list. Conrad liked the number seven and this crate had four sevens in a row. As always, he hoped that none of the crates would contain two hundred year old computer junk, or trash. Today, Conrad felt confident that if he bid for twenty of the crates, he would be awarded at least six or eight of the mystery cartons. Since fewer bidders were participating in today's auction, it took meager minutes for Conrad to register his bid. As a matter of fact, the only way to make the whole process smoother, was to replace the unpleasant Grade 30-B Disposition Technician receiving and recording the bids. Nonetheless, Conrad smiled pleasantly at the garish middle-aged woman. Afterward, Conrad casually strolled to the lounge to await the outcome of the bidding.

As usual, the results were slow in being compiled and relayed to the bidders. Conrad was pleased to be awarded eight out of the twenty crates he had submitted bids on. G.L. #7777-68 was included in the group of his new acquisitions and Conrad again thought the sevens would be lucky. If Conrad thought the disposition tech was unpleasant, the payment specialist was even worse. Mustering all of his self-control, Conrad smiled passively as the surly specialist completed the credit transfer. Conrad consoled himself with the fact that within an hour, his eight crates would be transferred from the government warehouse to the hold of his cargo ship. When his spaceship was well underway, Conrad would begin the process of unsealing the crates and inspecting his purchases.

In order to protect himself from even the slightest chance of the bureaucratic dragon's further intrusion into his business operations, Conrad made it a habit to open his purchases alone in the hold of his cargo ship. The contents of the first six crates were pretty much as had been described in the auction brochure and Conrad was relieved that he had not purchased a load of garbage at today's auction. In fact, there would be a marginal profit from the resale of the used equipment contained in the six crates. Surveying the remaining two crates, Conrad decided to leave the G.L. #7777-68 crate until last since he hoped this crate would contain something more interesting than the others. The seventh crate contained assorted components that could be resold mixed with a small amount of trash.

Conrad was somewhat disappointed when he first opened the G.L. #7777-68 crate. As the top of the crate slid backward, Conrad gazed at a jumbled mess of ancient hardware and components. An odd-looking tangle of wire and stainless steel caught Conrad's eye; so he bent down to make a closer inspection. Working patiently to extricate the object from its resting-place in the crate, Conrad's curiosity increased. Once the object was isolated and examined, Conrad realized he did not have the slightest idea what it was, much less, what it was used for. Settling on the notion that the ancient hardware would be interesting if nothing else, Conrad began removing the top layer of the messy tangle of wires and parts. When Conrad finished removing the mess and lifted the thin layer of packing foam, he discovered a second crate hidden within the G.L. #7777-68 crate.