Crossing the Line
05 May 2020Rex-Cramer
“Well Commander, I was not sure you would be willing to meet me but it seems Kayley was persuasive”, said the man across the table.“She said you were the sort that has money backing you so it might be worth hearing you out”, I replied sipping from the glass of wine he’d ordered.
He was a younger man, maybe early thirties with that “gotta make a big impression” feel to him. Thick jet black hair and a round face with that perfectly groomed stubble. A smile that was forced and calculated to seem like he’s got command of the room. I didn’t like him almost immediately.
“We’ve looked into your operation and we see that you have the required cargo capacity to complete this job in one run, which is the preference of my employer. However as you may have guessed from the payout this job is not, strictly speaking, legal”, the agent explained. “We need to know if your vessel is one that can enter and exit without undo attention”?
“I have a relationship here that means I don’t often receive attention, and that rides on the expectation that my activities HERE are, strictly speaking, legal. So lets not get ahead of ourselves. Before we get to money, I want to know what it is that this employer is asking for”, I responded. “There is some cargo I simply will not haul”.
“Of course. The cargo needed is human capital... of a variety which our Princess does not approve.”, he said evasively and a crack in that expectant facade showed. The first sign that he knew the answer might be “no”. Slaves, the kid wants imperial slaves.
I leaned back and despite myself, let out a chuckle.
“Son. Your employers offer is rejected. I’m not grabbing 700 units of that for 25 million you held out even if you are fronting the purchase. Moving that much quantity of that particular commodity would be difficult in the best of circumstances which is certainly not the inside of a high population Coriolis station”, I shot back to him as I started to gather up my things. But he reached out and put up his hand with a much more nervous look than he’d meant to be seen.
“Wait! That price was not without room to negotiate”, he exclaimed! “Have a seat and tell me what you would need to make it worth that trouble”, he said as he recomposed and sat back into his chair.
Imperial slaves. So much trouble for something that everyone still clearly uses and clearly many still feel is the best alternative to the situation that brought them there. It drums up images of whips and chains but the reality is nothing like it. Certainly room for argument over the ethics but its far from the public image in most cases. That’s neither here nor there because I’m deep in the employment of Aisling Duval and I’m in a jurisdiction where it is illegal. That could set me up for a costly set of penalties if this deal goes wrong. I can make 9 million a run on military grade fabric with none of this risk so 25M is just not going to cut it.
I gave the haughty little agent the rundown and then paused to consider my counter offer...
“Fifty million all in”, I said. “For that, I procure the cargo and bring it in. I’m assuming your employer has the shore crew to handle the offloading in a discrete and TIMELY manor”?
His face stayed stoney, the kid didn’t have a bad poker face when he was concentrating. He excused himself to contact his employer and convey my offer. When he returned walked up the the table and extended his hand. “You have a deal Commander, my employer has agreed to these terms and will have a shore crew to unload you as soon as you return. Simply inform the contact at this address of your arrival and dock assignment. We do not expect any interest from the local inspection agents. However authority ships are outside our reach and are your responsibility. Agreed”, he offered?
I scratched my forehead a moment and then stood up and shook his hand. “Agreed”.
I can procure the cargo at 9 million leaving me roughly 41 million. That nudge puts us at just over 7.5 billion after overhead which means from here until the crew-up and purchase of the carrier, anything more we earn is padding. Kayley won’t like this deal much but she will like the 3.5 million coming her way. I think time in the job has started to stamp out that white knight in her and open her eyes that the jobs get done, the only question is can what can you live with doing.
I can live with this one.