I arrived at back at our meeting place right on time, though I could see Finn was already there. He looked, if anything, more dishevelled than usual. He was lurked in front of some food stalls, trying, and failing, to look inconspicuous. His expression hovered somewhere between victorious and sheepish, clearly, whatever he’d been up to on his part of the mission had worked out, but not without some trouble.

“Tell me you haven’t just started an interstellar incident,” I said, sidling up to him. He jumped, startled, it was clear he hadn’t seen me coming. He managed to look completely terrified for a second or two before he processed the fact that it was only me.

“Nope, all quiet on the dockside,” Finn replied, grinning. “I even managed to make some useful and interesting friends. He said ‘interesting’ in that ‘interesting’ way people do when they don’t mean ‘arousing curiosity’. What about you? Get your audience with the big cheese of the museum world?”

“Almost,” I said. “We just need one last piece of kit: the scanner.”

Finn’s grin faltered. “OK…”

“Anyway,” I said, “before we get into that, did you get the replica? I dying to know…”

As I approached our meeting point, I spotted Florence waiting, looking entirely wonderful as she scanned the crowd.

“Right here,” I said, tapping a small box he pulled out of his pocket. “One perfect replica, ready to go.”

He opened it and I peered inside. It was absolutely perfect, as far as I could see. “Well done,” I said, genuinely impressed. “I’ve spun a tale so compelling the Lotaran Exhibition Director will be dribbling in anticipation Now, all that’s left is to find something that looks like a scanner, dress it up in an important looking wrapper and get the job done.”

“Piece of cake,” he said. Looking decidedly worried.

“And let’s hope you’re as good at acting as my slightly bumbling research assistant as you are at haggling dodgy fake artefacts with shady types in dodgy dives.”

“Hey,” he said, grinning, “bumbling is what I do. There’s nobody who bumbles better than me.” I grinned. “But I actually have no idea what this scanner thing should look like. It doesn’t sound like it should even be portable.”

“Relax, Finn. I know exactly where to look and what to look for.”

The market district on the dockside stretched for miles, a tangled mess of narrow walkways, shops, and enough blinking signage to make your retinas beg for mercy. It smelled. A very particular smell. An olfacactoral assault of ozone, oil, metal, a million different rancid food-stuffs and people of all sorts and origins. Oh yes, with a high note shimmering through it of desperation. Vendors shouted over each other to advertise their wares, everything from counterfeit luxury goods “all genuine fakes here!” to exotic pets that definitely weren’t legal to own on any planet anywhere, to mind-altering substances, and sexual exoticisms beyond imagining.

Finn trailed behind me, looking equal parts fascinated and wary. “Are you sure we’re not going to get robbed?” he asked, “it seems to be the most prevalent activity around here, if my earlier efforts are anything to go by.” His eyes darted to a group of burly, rhinoceros-like bi-pedal aliens haggling over what appeared to be a case of energy weapons.

“Only if you keep looking like you don’t belong,” I said. “Act like you’ve seen it all before.”

“I doubt I’ll ever be that good an actor,” he muttered, but he quickened his pace to stay close.

Eventually we came upon what I was looking for. It didn’t have a name, just a symbol above the entrance that resembled an exploded star. ‘Supernova Technologies’ It was called. I knew this was the place I was looking for. The interior was even more chaotic than the market outside, crammed floor to ceiling with gadgets, machinery, and devices whose purposes were anyone’s guess. The shopkeeper, looked up as we entered.

“Florence!” he said, spreading his arms in a theatrical gesture. “How very unpleasant and more slightly worrying to see you again. And so far from home! What can I do for you? I hope you aren’t here in connection with that slight misunderstanding at the University?”

I turned to Finn. “This is Krenz,” I said, by way of introduction, “Krenz is a scumbag, lowlife, scroat. A more unpleasant person you are unlikely to come across anywhere in this galaxy. He was a lab tech at the University until, as a climax to his career of venal, abusive criminality, he was finally caught trying to sell an entire advanced weapons materials lab to some really unsavoury dealers through the black market. He made something of a hasty retreat from Geldee Prime and is, I believe, still wanted for a list of unpleasantness longer than the arms of a giant, long-armed Xtor system orang-utan.” I turned back to Krenz, hoping that at some point Finn would grow out of his habit of standing with his mouth open like some floundering fish. “Nice to see you Krenz. I heard you’d finished up here.”

“It is a very nice place,” he said, “although a little bit limiting for a gentleman of my persuasion, if you know what I mean?” He leered. Horribly.

“I have absolutely no idea what you mean Krenz, and I really don’t want to. But, as it happens I do need something that I’m pretty sure you will have. A scanner. Temporal resonance. Portable. And big enough to cover something this big.” I gestured with my hands to show him the size.

Krenz rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Temporal resonance, huh? That’s niche, even for me. Also expensive. What’s it for?”

“What it’s for is none of your business Krenz,” I said smoothly, “you have anything that fits the bill, or do I need to go and find someone less obnoxious?”

Krenz considered for a moment, scowled a lot, then disappeared into the back room. We heard the sound of metal clanging and some cursing. He returned, holding a device, about 30 centimetres square with a touchpad and a readout on one face.

“This,” he said, setting it on the counter with a flourish, “is a _Quantum Oscillometric Surveyor._ But with a little tinkering, it could pass as a temporal resonance scanner.”

“I know what it is Krenz, you stole it from my lab. Its even still got the ident numbers on it. But aside from that, it needs to be larger, with an adjustable projection field.”

Krenz’s eyes gleamed. “Ah, in that case… wait here please.”

He took the device, disappeared again, and then returned with a new contraption.

A grey metal, heavy-looking sphere, with a number of what looked like sliding panels covering apertures. Inset a control screen.

“It’s portable,” Krenz said, patting the sphere. “And the projection field can cover a 40-by-40 area. Plus, the projection field allows access to an operator hands-on adjustments, if required” He gave us a knowing look. “Also, self-supporting when activated. Also, is only projection field and not temporal resonance scanner. Scanner parts cost extra. Also very useful and guaranteed in full working order, except where it isn’t. Also, is bargain.”

“Nothing you do is a bargain Krenz,” I said.

Krenz shrugged. “You want quality, you pay for quality. Besides, I know University can afford it. If this is University?” He looked at me with that ‘we both know this isn’t entirely legal’ look.

“Will it do the job?” Finn asked. He’d been pretty quiet unto this point and I could see he really did not like the look of Krenz.

“It will,” I said.

“Krenz, I need those University stickers and markings attaching to this?” I said.

“Is work of a moment,” he said.

“How much?” said Finn, I could see he was barely holding back a sneer. Krenz named his figure, Finn almost fell over.

“Krenz,” I said, coldly, “I expect a discount.”

“No discounts, not in this shop,” he said, “overheads. Staff costs, licensing, is expensive.”

“Wrong answer Krenz, The answer you were looking for goes like this ‘Certainly, Florence. In return for you not transmitting my exact whereabouts, identity and wanted status to the authorities, which will certainly result in my almost immediate arrest and incarceration on a penal station, I can, on this occasion, offer a one hundred percent discount to such a valued customer’” I smiled at him.

He blenched. “I make markings for you, he said, grudgingly. He marked up the sphere and then pushed it across the counter to me. “You always were hard-faced bitch,” He said.

“Thank you Krenz,” I said, “for your kind words. They mean so much to me.” Finn picked up the sphere and we left. "Well, that went well,” I said.

“What if he tells someone?” said Finn.

“He won’t,” I said, as well as being the nastiest piece of work in the galaxy, he’s also a snivelling coward and what I have on him would put him away forever. He will just keep his head down.”

“So,” Finn said as we navigated the maze of the market district, the scanner balanced awkwardly in his arms, “what’s the plan now?”

“We test it,” I said. “Make sure it looks convincing enough to fool the Director.”

“And if it doesn’t?”

“Then we improvise. But trust me, Finn, it’ll work. It has to.”

we carried the scanner back to the rental office, and set it up to try it out and practice switching out items inside the projection field. I couldn’t help but feel a flicker of optimism as I watched Finn get better and better at it. We worked out a script of how we would manage the switch for real and walked through the plan over and over until we had it down perfect. Now, all we had to do was execute the plan. Oh yes, and hope that Shalan was as vain and gullible as I had pitched him to be.