The Peddler

Hello, I am the peddler[1], I travel around selling... unusual merchandise that some might see as illegal, but it really isn't. Did I forget to mention the year? Oh, how silly of me! The year is 2567. I have a stealth ship, so, I travel from planet to planet undetected, to seek out new life and new civilizations. Kidding, I would never dream of stealing the federation's slogan. I travel from planet to planet selling and obtaining[2]strange objects and making profit that would make a ferengi drool. But to get to the point, I am starting a series of short stories of my "adventures" as an interplanetary peddler of the year 2567. First, I shall tell you how I, a normal human on Mars, became what people call "the peddler".

It all started in the year 2537, when I was born. I was such a cute little baby... oops, did I get off the subject. Dear me, here I go again. It actually started in the year 2550, when I was a wee little lad of 13 years old. I was as normal as any other kid on Mars, always minding my own little business,[3] shy with strangers, as people on earth would call a "chicken shit". I was always a loser, a very pathetic loser. But bearing the fact that most readers are geniuses might have figured out, something changed my life a great deal.

Well, I worked in a little[4] department store where we sold very advanced technology, such as holoprojectors, a few super brain enhancers for the stupid wealthy people and a lot of other things I can't even dream of pronouncing, nevertheless spelling. I, however, worked in the weapon's section. I knew where each and every gun was located, what type they were and even where they came from. One day, this man, standing a whole 7 feet tall walked in and came to see me. I was just cleaning the most expensive gun we had( not to mention the most powerful) and he asked me with an authoritative deep voice " How much is that gun little one". Before I go on, you must be wondering why a 13 year old like me was selling guns, well like many other differences between Earth and Mars the rules are different. But to continue the story, I answered "500 earth stones[5]", I, expected him to gasp in disappointment as most did assuming he didn't have the stones and walk away with a gloom look attempting to make you feel sorry for the poor loser. I was surprised when he took out a small pouch and then from the pouch was 600 earth stones, he bought the gun[6] and enough ammunition for a little while. That's when it struck me, no one gets that rich legally, he must be some bounty hunter or hit man or something of that genre but how could I refuse, he was giving earth stones. That day, I learnt to follow my guts and not just go by money. Before he left he put one bullet in it and blew my father's brains all over the floor. Before he got away I threw my 30 inch katana in his back like a spear, he fell dead before he hit the ground.

The funeral was sad, but I got over it surprisingly fast and took full control of the shop. Five years later, I had a modified m6d pistol and had stopped many robberies. But I was still thinking of my father's killer, he had become rich by committing illegal acts and if I could become rich, I'd help people at the same time. I mean, you need to be rich to buy what people need to survive. So, I decided to become what people now me as, the peddler. I shut the shop, bought a little wolf class combat/cargo ship[7] and flew away to earth to increase my merchandise. I headed in Ferengi territory shortly after, and sold most of my merchandise for an exceptional price. I could possibly have purchased new stuff to sell but I decided on an alternative way of obtaining goods. I used some of my profit on my ship and kept the rest for a rainy day.

Now we go forward ten years, I'm now twenty eight years old and I am what some might call by the rude term criminal. However, I see myself more like a Robin Hood type character. The rest of the stories you are about to read are based on true events that occurred in my life. Therefore, think of these stories as more of a journal than anything else including lots of footnotes. Now, me becoming a criminal wasn't the right thing to do but remember that these are strange times and strange circumstances. To learn more about my adventures you must keep reading the second installment of my memoirs. See you next time...

[1] For those of you whom need to know the definition of every word you encounter, here it is. It comes from an antique dictionary from earth 21st century: To sell or offer for sale from place to place.

[2] Obtaining, at times to obtain stuff... how do I put this delicately... illegally; ah there's the word. I do it for the good of the people in need. Anyway, I don't do it that often, only 7 times a week, sometimes more depending on the job.

[3] Ok, that little bit about me minding my own business may be hard to swallow. Seeing me as I am now, talkative and spying on people, strangely enough this provokes many fights.

[4] Ok, I must confess it was very huge if you looked at it from an earthling's point of view. Just as our housecats when full grown appear the size of small bobcats and our average mountains being twice as large as mount Everest and... must I go on or have you figured it out?

[5] I must explain this delicately. On earth they had a money system, no matter what they claim about " we don't need money' its all a bunch of baloney. On Mars on the other hand, earth rocks were and still are viewed as the most precious thing in existence, that's why we consider those selfish earthlings very wealthy, but they need stuff from us and in the end we come out about even.

[6] I suppose I must describe the gun ; it's the best sniper that never existed. Its zoom is farther than any other and its completely silent. It can only fire one type of bullet, armor piercing rounds capable of going through 30 inches of titanium alloy and the laser target only visible to the user and its quick to assemble and disassemble and ... must I go on with the details, you get the picture.

[7] Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a cheat ship. I spent a lot of money modifying my old ship to its full potential with the best shields that my ship could take and reinforcing its armor and the whole shebang. But I kept all the stuff from the shop which would in the future sale really well in the black market, made almost 25000 earth stones and 2000000000 $. The beginning of my beautiful career.