Sidris’ Assets

by euhal allen

Table of Contents
Part 1 appears
in this issue.

conclusion

* * *

Quorn Sulti gaveled the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Martio-Jovian Philatelic Society to order. “We have two pieces of business to handle and only a very short time in which to handle them before we must adjourn for the regular meeting of the Society. So, in order to dispense with them rapidly I shall bring them up in order of importance, least important and easiest to handle first:

First, we have another request by Sidris to be an agent of the Society. My dear, I don’t know why you continue in this vain pursuit. You have been turned down several times and the board only entertains your request at this time so that we can tell you, unanimously, that we reject your request and will not hear them again. Is that clear?

Sidris, standing next to the Magna Projector, said, “Yes, Sir. That is very clear. Too bad. That means that you don’t want this.” She turned slightly and slipped a small piece of something into the projector and turned it on. Immediately on the screen above, where all the board members could see it, was the only stamp needed to finish the Hungarian Japanese picture stamp collection.

Having left it in the projector only a few seconds, Sidris took it out and turned off the machine. Then she turned and headed for the door.

“You will not leave this room with that stamp, Sidris. You will turn it over to me at once. We will compensate you well for it and thank you for the completion of that particular collection.”

Sidris smiled, put the stamp on the table, and answered, “Of course you may have it and compensation is not necessary. After all it is only a copy. The real one is nicely put away where only I can get it. When you make me an agent, with an ironclad contract, you will get the stamp. If that is too high a price to pay, then others may compensate me for the original.” Then she turned again to leave the room.

Quorn Sulti, face ashen, ordered Sidris to stay for the second item that the meeting had to handle.

Quiet reigned as the board members watched a video of Sir Rupert, member only by occupying one of the few inherited seats from the Society’s earlier days, complain of being deprived by a Society agent of the very stamp that they had just seen, and demanding compensation for, or return of, the stamp in question.

It took a while to sink in. Then, as it did, every board member looked at Sidris in a new light. That she had acquired the stamp was impressive. That she had done it in the face of the competition from Sir Rupert was astounding.

Quorn Sulti spoke first, “Young lady, we would like to know the whole story. Leave nothing out.”

Sidris spoke for a half hour telling of the finding and bargaining for the stamp. Then how she was followed and accosted in the alley by Sir Rupert’s men, and how she got away — the board was very impressed by the ice needle gun — then how her ship was locked down until Sir Rupert was able to thoroughly search herself and her ship, without finding the stamp. Then she finished.

The Board sat in silence for a few minutes, digesting the story, before one of them asked the question that was now in all of their minds. Where had she hidden the stamp so that Sir Rupert could not find it?

“Oh, that,” replied Sidris, “I had it in a static cover and slipped it into Sir Rupert’s file under the check-off sheet. Then when they were all through, I retrieved it with my copy of the check-off sheet. It was so simple a solution that I knew Sir Rupert would never think of it. He is very predictable, you know.”

The decision was unanimous. Sidris, in the face of danger and mayhem, had done a job that none of their other agents had been able to do and had done it despite Sir Rupert Ollney’s interference. They had the stamp and a new agent.

It was announced, without mentioning name or gender for agent protection, to the full membership that very evening.