I Suppose I Could Have Opened With The Good News
09 Aug 2021User319792
Coral looked at me with wide eyes. Her lips were a mirror for themselves, with a frown on one side and a smile on the other. One nostril was flared and she coughed out a laugh. "HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I T-"
"I know. 'It's not our fight.'"
The man in the black suit looked upset. It took everything out of me to not laugh. The look on Coral's face turned to one of concern.
"uh... You ok, Cadence?"
The man in the black suit looked at Coral before looking back at me. I had to rub my eyes and and turn away, biting down and squinting away the laugh.
"I'm fine-"
"IT'S NOT OU-"
"-r fight, I know. Just listen. I ran into a group based out of a permit-locked system and I figured, with their proximity to Lembava, I might be able to find out more about the area. They're equally embedded within Pranav Antal's and President Yong-Rui's spheres of influence and I got in contact with one about the possibility of working with us. They weren't completely open to the idea of a full-on coalition, but they were welcoming enough, and they didn't object to us doing some work for them. They even offered a possible trade-route, right out the gate, but it was for Imperial slaves, so I decided instead to just take Ovid out and see if I could be of any help to them politically, for the time being. I know it's not our fight, but it is their fight and if it could get me in, I figured there wouldn't be too much harm done."
The man in the black suit was not happy. Coral's eyes widened and she gulped down a laugh and pursed her lips at the mention of trading Imperial slaves. I squinted when I read the words on the trade-tip. It raised the hairs on my neck, but the fact that they were receptive to my interest in receiving the permit was enough for me to respect the differences between a group of anarchists in Utopian and Sirius space and a former slave-girl for what they are and to not take it personally.
The man in the black suit was still breathing heavily and Coral was looking back and forth between the two of us, with an almost unnoticeable rolling laugh.
"So," he took a few breaths before continuing, "what is the situation right now?"
"Well, I'm currently docked at the major starport in Terra Mater, in Euclid. Its an agricultural economy, but the other two smaller outposts are extraction economies and there might be some good trading, but I'll probably have to refit Hobbes for trading again to make it happen. I'll stop in now and again to build and maintain my relationship with the group."
Coral, still looking back and forth between the two of us, pursed her lips again before the corners of her mouth slowly turned upward. I looked at her and fixed my stare. She held in another laugh.
"So are we still gonna look into this Sirius thing, Cadence?"
I furrowed my eyebrows at her and squinted.
"I didn't say I was abandoning everything and selling my ships off to live with a bunch of anarchists, idiot."
Coral twisted her head to the side and crossed her eyes before laughing and spitting at the holo cam sensor. I turned my head and smiled in satisfaction.
"I'm just gonna keep doing what I'm doing in the area and I'll check in with them every now and again to see if they're getting into anything that might be of any mutual benefit."
The man in the black suit was still fuming as he and Coral went over some further details of her current analysis on Sirius' activities and possible aims before shooting me a hard look and lowering his chin in warning. I rolled my eyes and he gritted his teeth.
"Remember the difference between politics and business, Cadence."
I shrunk back from my holo sensors and looked at Coral, who immediately caught my meaning and swallowed a projectile guffaw before looking at the man in the black suit.
"She gets it, dad. We'll stay on what's going on with Sirius and if anything comes up we'll let you know."
Dad looked at Coral and gave her a stern look before shooting another angry glance at me before looking away and terminating the comm.
Coral looked over at me and laughed, before looking away and shaking her head with a smile.
"You... You are..."
"I am a lovely young woman, Coral, and there's nothing you can say that can convince me otherwise."
She laughed again, rolling her eyes before saying bye and cutting the comms.