A Valued Rarity
Fruits from other worlds are a rare commodity at the Traders’ Market, due to the extended transport periods involved in bringing the fruit to Tradepoint from its world of origin and then conveying it to the homeworld of the purchaser. (The Hesch circumvent this problem by bringing fruit in a dried state, or in the form of jelly.)
The notable exception to that difficulty has been the maartza of the Vennan tradeteams. Because Vennans do not cross interstellar distances by ship, their transit time is only a matter of hours or days. This enables them to bring a variety of delicate fruits from Venna in a fresh enough state for those wares to arrive with some in peak condition, ready to be consumed, while others are in an earlier stage of ripening that will last through the purchaser’s voyage home.
