An Overlooked Opportunity: A Behind the Scene Excerpt of Accused

by Leona Windwalker

Varto smiled to himself. Surely this was an opportunity not to be missed! Withe the human home world now open to limited trade and human Volunteers coming to the station, there was money to be made providing them with home comforts. Home comforts that just happened to appeal to more than just humans.

Blix had profited at the food store, importing some of their foodstuffs. J’norah had gotten himself a Starbucks franchise, introducing the drink known as coffee. Varto was a cabinet maker though- how could he take advantage of this?

Word is that Commander is bringing home a human Sachari- surely he will wish to spend credits transforming their home into something familiar. Hmmm. Sachari are nurturers. Nurturers provide comfort. Comfort- food. Food- kitchen. Human kitchens no doubt are different from those found in the Talani Alliance. Yes, something to help make this like home, like comfort.

Varto picked up his data pad, opening an information search for ‘traditional kitchens- Earth’. He eyed the results. Wait, this result looked promising. It was a site that shared pictures by topic. He selected the Earth site. Ah, traditional to humans means old-fashioned. ‘Retro’ they call it, and it’s a thing. A popular thing. Yes, yes. Warm memories of old-fashioned cabinets and older appliances like your parent or their parent had. Getting comfort while nurturing your own young. He selected the most popular images, downloaded them, and saved them to a file. He couldn’t provide the human style appliances, but the cabinetry he could do. Now all he had to do was wait. The Sachari would come, and he would be waiting. And as the Commander’s mate, he will set a style trend. He smiled toothily. Yes, sir, the credits will come rolling in. I might even be able to franchise my designs. Varto’s Retro Relics. Hmm. I should see if I could partner with an engineer to design Talani appliances that look like the human old-fashioned ones. The look would then be complete. Not yet, though, he reminded himself. First to turn a profit on the cabinetry. Then roll out a complementary line, followed by franchise opportunities. Continue reading →