Jason King: Agent to the Stars 1: The Enclaves of Sylox (5 page)

Chapter 6

Alien homes come in a variety of shapes, sizes and designs, ranging from the covered-over pits Jonk Limbor built, to nests made of flexible reeds and branches grown specifically for these structures. Finding properties compatible to Humans did limit my search, but not by much here in the galactic capital.

Most creatures advanced enough to have developed the technological and societal requirements necessary to be invited into the Union were mammals of basically the same design, the so-called
Primes
of the galaxy. These were generally two-legged, two armed beings having hands with opposable thumbs. In fact, it was the similarity of the hands that were the most-common feature among advanced species. It took a certain level of dexterity to create and operate complicated machinery and other devices. This also served to standardize most operating controls found throughout the Union.

Humans were not the most-adept at operating the trappings of modern interstellar technology, but we certainly didn’t have any problem with them either. During my time out in the galaxy, I’d run into a lot of different alien species, and I would have to place Humans within the top ten percent as the most-coordinated, quickest-thinking and even the strongest of all the races.

In fact, it seemed that the more advanced the species, the weaker and less-coordinated they appeared to be. This relative disadvantage may be why these particular races needed to invent such advanced mechanical, electronic and other artificial devices in the first place, just so they could do what came naturally to most Humans. At least that was the
King Theory of Advanced Alien Design
.

Look it up. It’s on the internet.

The first home we stopped at was located about six miles from the Embassy, and was a three-level stacked-box structure. The neighborhood couldn’t be classified as the most desirable on this side of the city, but it also wasn’t the worst. In fact, it reminded me of some of the Burroughs of New York City, only safer.

I used my standard lockbox key for entry. My
key
was actually a small electronic box with a keypad on which I could enter my specially-assigned code. The key was then placed inside a secure device on the door – the lockbox – that would then unlock it, giving us access. Lockboxes came in various models, depending on the value and security level of the home. This property ranked the lowest kind.

The first thing most people notice when entering an alien home is – of course – the smell. I’ve had many a conversation with my alien friends throughout the years, concerning the Human obsession with deodorant and perfumes. According to them, these add-ons actually cause a more offensive odor than without. I guess stink is in the nose of the smeller, and so I watched with amusement as the Wilson family exhibited some of the most horrific expressions I’d seen in quite a while as they entered the alien home.

All except Miranda. She seemed to take the sickening smells in stride, her eyes bright and inquisitive as she entered.

The occupants were at home – two bug-eyed, emaciated looking things about four-feet tall – and so Jennifer quickly took Jonathan by the hand and sent him a non-verbal order to keep his trap shut about the smell. To his credit, the boy was in too much shock to say a word in the presence of these truly strange-looking creatures.

Now I did my thing, efficiently guiding a tour of the three levels, being sure to spend a little too much time in the process. I could tell Jennifer was about to puke, which would have served my purpose if she had. I gripped the barf-bag in my pocket, just in case.

A half hour later we reentered the relative fresh air outside the home. I turned to Jennifer Wilson. “So what did you think? The home is over two thousand square feet and it’s only six miles from the Embassy, so the kids would go to Consulate schools.”

The slight green tint to Jennifer’s skin was slowly fading in the fresh air, but still her eyes expressed dismay. “It was nice, Jason. Certainly big enough for us, but I wasn’t too impressed with the kitchen. I didn’t see an oven.”

“You’d have to put one in yourself if you bought it. The current owners don’t cook their food….” I let the sentence trail off, allowing the Wilson family to take in all its implications.

“I see,” said Mrs. Wilson. “Then perhaps could we see some homes where they
do
cook their food?”

“Of course, the next one up, in fact; however, it’s the bathrooms that will need modification before you can live there. But it’s only seven-hundred eighty thousand, and has four thousand square feet.”

“Good. Please lead the way.”

The rest of the afternoon went pretty much like the first home, and by the time I dropped the family off at the Consulate Compound where they could claim their apartment, every one of them looked frazzled and dazed, again, all except Miranda.

I took her amused detachment to the whole day as a consequence of her temporary status on Sylox. She didn’t need to make the decisions for the family, so she wasn’t feeling any of the pressure her cousin was experiencing. This made Miranda appear confident and strong – unfortunately two of the most-appealing traits I find in a woman. Plus, of course, that undeniable sexual presence that could launch me into song, if I could sing a lick. Looking at Miranda Moore, I’d be tempted to try.

And now as she walked away from the van, Miranda turned and waved at me. I jerked my hand up a little too quickly and sent her a silly, schoolboy grin.

Damn, I could tell this woman was going to be trouble.

Just at that time had no idea how much.

**********

Two days later I took the family out again, this time with Mark Wilson tagging along. I say tagging along because he seemed very distracted the whole day, nodding and grunting as we toured four alien homes.

The day went pretty much like the first – except poor Melissa Wilson
did
throw up at one of the homes. But she only did it once, which was saying something considering what we saw. Hell, in one of the homes, even
I
had trouble holding back the hurl!

Yet for the already shell-shocked Jennifer Wilson, once was one too many. I had a fifth home to show them, yet after the disaster at number four, Jennifer shook her head and said that was it, she was done.

Her husband Mark then told her that whatever she wanted, he was okay with it.

“The Enclaves?” I asked.

“The Enclaves.” Jennifer concurred.

And that was that. After two days of traipsing through alien filth, I was finally on my way to getting serious about finding the Wilsons a home – and about earning my lofty commission. Now, as I drove back to the Zanzibar Enclave, I was almost tempted to call the Noreen starship dealer and place the order, but I knew I still had a little work to do, plus the escrow period. I put the temptation out of my mind, and instead began to concentrate on tonight’s game.

It would be the first in a while with Bill back in the lineup, and since we were only a game out of first, I was worried. But what the hell, it’s only a softball game, right? My mind was already somewhere off in the stars, at the controls of my very own starship
Enterprise
.

Or more like one of the shuttles off the
Enterprise
, I conceded.

Chapter 7

My third showing to the Wilson clan was the first in the Enclaves, and the day before, Miranda called me with a list of properties she had found online. I’m always upset when an online search is provided for me, since I don’t like the idea of third-parties – or even my customers – doing the selecting for me. I know the inventory better, and besides, I have a showing strategy I often employ that produces a much higher conversion rate than simply showing a bunch of homes at random. But since this list was coming from Miranda, I held my tongue. I was just happy to hear her sexy, accented voice.

“The Hillcrest property, really?” I said, looking over the list she’d emailed me. “That’s pretty far out of their price range.”

“It’s out of the range Jennifer has set, but not out of Mark’s. You do know he comes from a very wealthy family, don’t you? Actually, they made their money in real estate and construction, just like you.”

“I didn’t know that – not for sure – although I did sense a little of that on Jennifer’s part. I’ve only met Mark that one time two days ago.”

“Yeah, he’s rich, which is how he’s been able to spend most of his adult life working in the higher echelons of the Diplomatic Corps. That’s normally not the pursuit of the poor.”

The home on Hillcrest was my listing, which did offer the potential of a double-ender. And at the price of the listing, getting both the listing and selling sides of the transaction could be a huge payday.

The property was owned by the Velosian Council Member Morgus Orn. I had sold the home to him over six years ago while I still worked as a site agent for Pulte. Even at that time, it was one of the most palatial estates in all the Enclaves, and sold for a princely sum of six million dollars back then.

Now it was priced at twenty-two million, but it had been sitting on the market for over a year. With another two years left on Orn’s term on the Council, he was in no hurry to sell and so we hadn’t pursued an aggressive selling strategy up to this point. In fact, he hadn’t authorized a single price reduction in all that time.

Was it even feasible that Mark would buy the home? If he did, it would be my single-biggest sale –
ever
– and would ensure my acquisition of the coveted Noreen II starship.

“Jennifer’s going to be pissed,” I said. “She’s already upset about not finding anything good in town.”

“I’ll handle her,” Miranda said with confidence. “I honestly doubt Mark will bite the bullet on this home, but it will make the other homes you have to show him look like bargains.”

I looked a little closer at the stunning image of Miranda on the phone and wondered if she had ever sold real estate before? If not, then maybe she might consider coming to work for me? She seemed to be a natural at it – and she’d also go a long way to really dressing up the office….

Prior to the mention of the Hillcrest home, I already had a particular home in mind for the Wilsons. It was just what they needed, even if they didn’t know it at the time, and was priced at only ten-point-two million. Comparing the two properties side-by-side, most of the additional value in the Council Member’s home came from its location, plus the quality of the build and the extra square feet it contained. These were all important factors, yet for the uninitiated, the upgrades would be hard to spot, and hardly worth the dramatic increase in the asking price, even counting the added square footage. Miranda was right: the home in Sterling Bridge South would look like a steal after showing them Hillcrest.

I thanked Miranda and broke the connection, while suddenly feeling strangely nervous. I caught myself planning a thank you offering to her, which I knew would be only a thinly-vailed attempt at asking her out on a date.

What if she said no?

To me, Jason King? Nah … that would never happen.

**********

“Twenty-two million; that’s way out of our price range!” Jennifer Wilson was livid. I looked to Miranda for support.

“Jason says it’s been on the market for over a year. The seller may be willing to come down in price by now.”

“Like in half – or more? I seriously doubt it.”

“One can never know,” I said, now stepping into the conversation. “But it will give you a good perspective on relative pricing within the Enclaves. It’s also on the way to the next home in Sterling Bridge; it will only take a minute to drop by.”

“Whatever you say, Jason, after all you’re the professional,” Jennifer Wilson said, even though her tone didn’t match her words. “But you’ve been warned; Mark doesn’t like to waste what precious free time he has on useless endeavors, and neither do I.”

I cocked my head at Miranda after Jennifer turned and huffed her way back to the van. I had already shown them three homes. Hillcrest would be the fourth, followed by the home they would eventually buy.

So why didn’t I just cut to the chase and show them the home in Sterling Bridge first? Unfortunately, most homebuyers don’t know what they want until they see what they don’t. It’s all a process, and until it’s been followed to the tee, real estate sales can be a hit-or-miss game. I didn’t operate like that. I was patient enough to follow the strategy.

Besides, real estate is not an impulse buy; there’s just too much time between showing and closing for a buyer to change their mind. They have to truly love the home in order to carry the process all the way through to the end. And that involved educating the buyer on what they really want and need in a home.

So I’d suffer the wrath and dirty looks from Jennifer Wilson knowing that what I was doing was for the family’s eventual benefit. Besides, I enjoyed the game. It was challenging and rewarding, and also carried an almost obscene amount of power with it. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that the manipulation of other people is a bad thing. It can be quite satisfying at times, as well.

**********

Fourteen Hillcrest Summit; what can you say about it? It was simply the foremost home in the entire Zanzibar Enclave. Each of the four other Enclaves had their own equivalent property, yet I had the only one of these premier properties currently on the market.

I knew it was over-priced, but once the Council Member came closer to serving out his term and returning to Velosia, he’d get serious about selling. And then I’d be rolling in dough. Even at a more-realistic price of around eighteen million, it would still be my biggest sale.

But that would have to wait. Now I had to use this magnificent home to help sell another. Sometimes it went like that. Hillcrest’s day would come. It just wouldn’t be
this
day.

The Velosian Morgus Orn wasn’t home when I opened the property, which required the most-secure lockbox and key-code process available, complete with a biometric sample proving it was really me gaining access. But once the massive double doors swung wide, the Wilson family – and Miranda – rushed in with wide-eyed, Christmas-morning looks on their faces.

The home was fourteen thousand square-feet of absolute luxury and opulence, including twenty-four inch diagonal tile throughout, twenty-foot ceilings and a two thousand square foot great room that stretched to the twenty feet of patio doors with a jaw-dropping view of the ninety-foot long, freeform pool outside.

The home was also decorated with some of the most palatial furniture I’d ever seen. Yet what really set it apart from all the other homes in the area was the vast collection of alien artifacts displayed throughout, souvenirs from Orn’s lifetime of service to his race and his planet.

Which was what immediately caused me to panic.

Melissa and Jonathan were now rushing from room to room, insisting on touching everything within arm’s length. I knew that some of the objects in the home were literally priceless, and I was in no mood to replace anything that got broken. So I ran after the kids, grabbing Jonathan by the arm just as a weird-looking plate of some kind began to wobble on its stand.

“You guys are going to have to calm down,” I said to the two little ones. “What do you think your parents would do to you if they have to pay for something you broke?”

This got their attention. I looked around for Mark and Jennifer, but didn’t see them. Neither did I see Miranda or Heather. Damn, this was not how it was done. I was supposed to be in control of these showings. I was getting angry.

I led Melissa and Jonathan to the massive master bedroom suite where I found their parents. “Would you mind keeping an eye on these two?” I said in no uncertain terms. “There are a lot of expensive things in this home that can break.”

Jennifer pursed her lips and looked hard at her kids. That was good enough for me. I now went looking for Miranda and Heather.

I followed the scent of Miranda’s perfume into Morgus Orn’s private office. I was surprised to see that the room had been left unlocked; it had always been locked on every other occasion I’d been in the house.

Miranda was by herself, standing before a huge holographic picture occupying the central spotlight among a whole series of pictures depicting highlights in the diplomat’s long career. The one she was admiring was the largest of them all and showed the Velosian holding a small statue that seemed to sparkle with a life of its own.

Miranda didn’t take her eyes from the image as I stepped up next to her.

“It’s amazing, isn’t it?” she said in a singsong voice.

“I don’t know if you’ve ever seen one of these before, but they’re pretty neat.” I tapped the bottom of the picture and a thin scrollbar appeared with a cursor set at the center of the bar. I placed my finger on the cursor and slid it to the right. The image in the hologram began to rotate to the right until the vantage point had shifted a full 180-degrees, now displaying the back of the Council Member. I slid the cursor all the way to the other side of the bar and the view shifted 360-degrees to the left. I placed the cursor back in the center.

I now stood staring at the brilliant statue, just like Miranda, trying to reason with the spectrum of reflections coming off the hundreds of facets making up the surface of the two-foot-tall sculpture.

I tapped a small triangle at the bottom left of the frame and a caption appeared.

‘Velosian Council Member Morgus Orn accepts the Unity Stone from the Simorean Council representative as part of the decennial Passing Ceremony. The symbol of interspecies peace and cooperation will reside in the offices of the Velosian contingent on Sylox before returning to the Simorean government in ten years’ time.’

“I wonder what it’s made of?” Miranda asked. “It’s so brilliant.”

“It looks crystalline, probably some exotic material we’ve never heard of before.”

“It’s a diamond,” said a voice from behind us.

Both Miranda and I turned to find Heather Wilson in the doorway to the office, holding her ubiquitous smartphone up to her face.

“A diamond?” said Miranda. “That’s impossible. That thing is close to two-feet tall.”

“No, it says here it’s a diamond, a fragment from the core of a black dwarf star that apparently collided with another black dwarf, whatever they are? That’s the only way such a large diamond could have been recovered. The gravity on the stars is too great to mine them. It also says it’s the largest fragment of its kind in the galaxy.”

Miranda and I turned back to the image, while Heather joined us.

A two-foot tall diamond – dang! Even though diamonds were rumored to be a girl’s best friend, I found that I was amazed by the stone myself. “What does it mean by
Unity Stone
?”

Heather returned to her phone. “It says the original fragment penetrated the shields of an attacking Velosian flagship – the head of a four-thousand-ship fleet – during the last Velosian-Simorean War. This is freaky, but it says the power to the shields flashed briefly at the time, allowing the stone to penetrate the hull at that precise moment. The damage to the ship delayed the attack long enough for negotiators to reach an armistice and bring an end to the conflict. Both sides called this a form of divine intervention, and the stone was cut into its present shape to commemorate the event. The statue is now a symbol of peace between the two parties, even though tensions still exist – that sucks. But now the Unity Stone is rotated between the Velosian and Simorean delegations every ten years.”