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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Shadowdancer" data-source="post: 1956466" data-attributes="member: 515"> Chapter XXIDate: 173-993Location: Fonnein OribitalSwann and Martha head to The Grotto ahead of Kevon’s dinner date. The Grotto is a fairly busy, low–lit place serving primarily authentic New Milan cuisine. As Swann and Martha settle in and place their orders, they spy Kevon arriving wearing his undress uniform. A moment later, Holly Clegg enters, dressed in an elegant black cocktail dress. "Ah, Captain Holland! I’m pleased to meet you in person, and thank you for meeting me for dinner here. I do try to make it to The Grotto at least once when we dock here. You really must try the Tribeck Milanese." Kevon greets Holly as cheerfully as she does him. Holly keeps up a smooth light banter with Kevon as they are seated fairly close to Swann and Martha, peruse the menu, and place their orders. She is obviously quite experienced at placing people at ease, and the two talk about their backgrounds as well as various inconsequential goings on in the subsector for quite some time. Kevon does find out that Holly is in the employ of the Marquis of Souris, and has been for some five years. -----Over the course of the meal, Martha tries rather hard to be inconspicuous and follow Swann’s lead. Swann makes small talk with Martha, but tries to spot anyone who might have an interest in Holly and/or Kevon, and their conversation (besides himself and Martha, of course). -----Once the entrees arrive, Holly Clegg finally gets down to business. "As I mentioned to you earlier, I do have a proposition for you. Actually, I have several. "The Marquis occasionally needs a reliable ship and crew to handle matters for him. The Klenbrooke doesn’t make it to this part of the sector that often, and he is on the lookout for people that he can call on. Your ship and crew come highly recommended by Marquis Hallentien.* Depending on what the crew does with my other two propositions, he may want to have you on retainer. Being on retainer would involve being available to perform missions or transports for him — paid, of course — and receiving a fee of Cr50,000 a year just for being available. "The second proposition is to transport three dTons of scientific equipment to Jakob Selby working on Alief within the next 90 days. We understand that the Bray Keaven has been given permission to transport non-military equipment to Alief, and Mr. Selby could use this equipment to help in his research in resolving Alief’s disappearing water problem. I can offer you Cr20,000 for the transport." Looking levelly and intently at Kevon, Holly continues, "And, the third proposition is to purchase one of your transport cubes for a million credits." -----Martha does her best to avoid choking on her meal has she overhears Holly’s million–credit offer. As far as she knows, she was successful, but she doesn’t know if anyone was watching. Swann is a bit smoother and also thinks that he is successful in maintaining a straight face. Swann surveys the other restaurant patrons to see if he can spot anyone who has an interest in observing Kevon and Holly. He doesn’t notice anyone in the first half of the meal. However, after Holly’s pitch is made, he suspects that a middle–aged, portly man with a bookreader may be eavesdropping or at least observing the two captains. The man, seated two tables away from Kevon and Holly, doesn’t appear to actually reading the bookreader. -----The lieutenant commander blinks twice, making sure he heard her clearly. "Umm, wow. Well, the third one is something that I definitely have to bring up to the rest of the crew," he says. "The second proposition is one that I’m certain we can agree on, and if the Marquis du Sentry recommends us to your patron, I think we would be remiss not to accept his gracious offer, should it come." Pausing to down another polite bite of food — he took Holly up on her recommendation of the Tribeck Milanese, which is excellent — Kevon adds, "We have to move to a repair berth first thing in the morning, so can I give you an answer by noon?" A disappointed look briefly flashes across the redhead’s face, but the cheerful expression returns and Holly replies, "Of course. Please discuss the offer with your crew and then call me on the Klenbrooke at noon." The rest of the meal is spent in more polite talk. Overall, the food is excellent, and Kevon leaves pleasantly stuffed. Holly insists on picking up the rather substantial tab, and the two part company. Swann and Martha leave a little after Kevon and trail the lieutenant commander back to the Bray Keaven. ------Back in the lounge, the crew gathers to hear about the meeting and discuss plans for tomorrow morning. Swann tells the others about the man he observed at the restaurant. Swann reminds Kevon he needs to contact Sare No. 1 to set up a meeting, but suggests he have Aidan also talk to Sare No. 1 so the prospective buyer knows Aidan will be acting as Kevon’s representative. For the morning meetings, Swann and Saro will accompany Aidan to meet with Sare No. 1 while Ian and Vargas accompany Kevon to meet with Sare No. 2. Since the latter could get nasty, Swann suggests to those going that they take weapons with good stopping power. He offers to loan Vargas the use of his magnum revolver and two speed loaders if Vargas wants them. -----Swann arranges with Ian for the two of them to stay in contact via personal communicators during the meetings. If Sare No. 1 knows the proper password, Swann will say to Ian, "Tell Martha I’ll pick up my clothing later." (This is in case anyone is monitoring the conversation.) If Sare No. 1 doesn’t know the password, Swann will say to Ian, "I don’t have my computer games yet." If Sare No. 2 knows the proper password, Ian should say to Swann, "Tell Saro I’ll pick up his medical supplies later." If Sare No. 2 doesn’t know the password, Ian should say to Swann, "I don't have my music discs yet." -----"Personally, I think we take Ms. Clegg up on both of her offers," Kevon states plainly. "That, and graciously accept the retainer from her Marquis, should it come. I’m sure Mr. Silver can attest to the weight of ‘being recommended,’ and that sort of money for the retainer will certainly help the ship and crew. "To the Sares, I say that we’ll tell them one cube didn’t survive contact with enemy combatants on the trip in, and they either take it or leave it." Aidan says, "I agree with Kevon on this one. Yes, it is . . . changing part of the agreement with my patron, but your having a patron in this part of space is a very valuable thing. "I think some research into the activities of the Marquis du Souris this evening would be an excellent idea, and I’d be happy to head back out into the station for some more research from someplace anonymous. Preferably escorted." He grins. "If you’d like, I’d be more than happy to help with contact with the Marquis, having some knowledge of the foibles of the noble class." "I’d be willing to accompany you during your research," Ian says. "Need to stretch the legs anyway." "Glad to have you, Ian." -----Swann looks at Aidan, a little surprised. "Can you do that? Sell one of the cubes to Ms. Clegg, I mean. I thought you were under orders to deliver one to a buyer here, and one to a buyer on Adukgin. "If your patron won’t mind, it would be simpler and better all around to get rid of both cubes here. I just don’t want to have to worry about any assassins being dispatched by your patron who come looking for you. And for the rest of us." "Orders are funny things in this business," Aidan says. "With the high risk to these things getting through, sometimes a judgement call needs to be made. Of course, I’ll certainly be mentioning this back to my patron. For certain remuneration, I would hope — either monetary or in influence. The information that another Marquis is willing to make a very substantial investment to acquire one of these is certainly valuable. "Of course, doing it may also get me killed, but that’s a calculated risk. And my death would not be one that would take you all out in a blaze of glory or otherwise. Nobles are killed by much subtler means. If they are killed at all. There are other effective ways of ‘removing’ them. Witness myself. "What I would like to make more certain of is that you all will not be killed in obtaining those million creds. Hence my interest in the Marquis’ umm, shall we say ‘market activities.’ " -----"Personally, I’m all for either, so long as it gets these damn boxes out of here and gives us a little more peace," Martha says. "It seems everyone and their dog knows about these things, and I’d like our pictures to be pulled from whatever holovid these guys are watching, or whereever it is they are getting their information from. "Tomorrow, I’ll be accompanying the ship over to the shipyards. Heck, I can fly it myself for something this routine, if that frees some of you up to take care of the Sare Fan Club membership," Martha offers. "I imagine I’ll be pretty busy tomorrow with helping them out, and watching the ship, too, in the process." -----Saro looks a little skeptical but agrees that if Aidan can safely sell the cube to Holly without future repercussions to the Keaven and its crew that a cool megacred would come in handy. As for her other two proposals, the cargo and the retainer, he agrees that both sound good and the crew should go for them. -----"Are we settled, then, on the Clegg issue?" the lieutenant commander asks. "If so, I think we should contact her as soon as possible tomorrow morning to deliver the news." -----Vasilii has been sitting with a focused look on his face, staring into space since the mention of the offer from Holly Clegg, his fingers folded in his lap, tapping his thumbs together as he's been thinking. When there is a brief lull in the conversation, he pipes up to voice his less–than–enthused reaction to the offer. "Well, not to be a conspiracy theorist, but I’d like to point out that the last time we went for the ‘easy’ money, the ship got broken into, a couple of mines blew up on Swann and Ian, Martha’s thoughts were pretty rudely poked into, the cargo we were hoping to sell was stolen, and when the smoke cleared, the only thing we had left to call our own in the whole affair was the egg on our faces. We got taken, and pretty damn good at that, and all because somebody dangled a few credits in front of our noses. "What I’m getting at is, Ms. Clegg’s offer is exactly what we’d want to hear: Big money up front, more money later in a retainer, and paying assignments as we go. But my gut’s telling me it’s a little too good to be true. And frankly, especially in the shape I’m in, I’m not in a mood to get shot at. KCr100 is a LOT easier to deliver on than a million. If anyone’s keeping tabs on votes, I vote to tell Ms. Clegg, ‘Thank you for your patronage, but we’re under contract.’ "Besides, why would a Marquis want a crew that could be bought that quickly?" he asks, raising an eyebrow at the group. "A crew that can be bought quickly, you send them only on the jobs that you wouldn’t send somebody you’d want to keep." Swann smiles ruefully at Vasilii and says, "After what we've been through, I don’t think any of us expect this to be easy credits. But as long as we go into the arrangement with our guard up, and our sensors active, and with a good plan in place to protect ourselves, we should be OK. It’s at least something we should pursue further, with the understanding that if things don’t stay shiny, we walk away." "To which I reply that we thought we had a good plan on Sentry, too," Vasilii reminds him. "And if things don’t stay shiny, I sincerely doubt we’ll be walking anywhere; we’ll more likely be dodging bullets. But you seem determined, so I guess we’re accepting her offer. But if this blows up in our faces, my paranoias will never let you live it down," he adds, shaking his head as he smiles. "There are at least two reasons for us to make the deal with Ms. Clegg," Swann says. "First, we can use the credits. And it’s 10 times what the other buyer is offering. I thought you Merchant types were all in favor of supply and demand, selling to the highest bidder, and all that static." Vasilii shrugs. "Well, when the offer’s credible, yes, definitely, but I don’t think it is in this case. That, and any prospect of guns has a way of greatly lowering the point of diminishing returns." Swann continues. "Second, and more importantly, getting rid of the second cube now means we don’t have to go to Adukgin." At this point, he lowers his voice and leans closer to Vasilii. "And Adukgin is where the people who want Martha are at. Given what they did last time we crossed vectors with them, I’d rather not even jump into that system if we can avoid it." Vasilii studies Swann for a moment. "Hmm. Good point, forgot about that." Vargas raises a hand. "What if we have the lovely Miss Clegg drop a nice little deposit in escrow as a gesture of good faith, if not deep pockets?" "A good idea Vargas, and also why I want to do a little research: trust but verify," Aidan says. "Matter of fact, I should head out now to do that." "We’re not being bought, Mr. Kugiikishshi," the lieutenant commander counters, his voice taking on a sudden, but slight edge. "We’ve been recommended, and that’s a completely different animal in the realm of aristocracy. I don’t know what kind of experience you have with that world, but I’ve lived in it. As Mr. Silver says: trust but verify. I say we deal." -----Kevon and Aidan call Sare de Salui No. 1 to set up a morning meeting. Sare de Salui No. 1 is as polite as ever, but Aidan does detect a growing impatience. A meeting is set up for the hotel restaurant at 0700 hours. -----After the call to Sare de Salui No, 1, Aidan and Ian head out to do a little research. They go back to the Numoc Diner and order a couple of drinks and snacks while Aidan does his research into the Marquis of Souris using the public network. The information that is available leaves a little to be desired but not surprising given that Fonnein is a bit out of the way and Souris is a bit far away, but it is enough for Aidan to piece together a sketch of the Marquis. The Marquis of Souris is known for being one of the rare nobles that actually cares about the well–being of the common people, ardently loyal to the Imperium, and actively works to improve Imperial society. There are a number of others who question his sincerity, but Aidan has a suspicion that the sentiment is genuine. Given his convictions, the Marquis tends to be liked by commoners and disliked by most nobles who consider him entirely too plebeian. The Marquis of Souris also has the public reputation for being a man of his word. Finally, there is an article that details a mercenary group rumored to be hired by the Marquis who rescued a group of scientists captured by pirates. The scientists (biologists and botanists) were working for a company owned by the Marquis. -----Meanwhile, Vasilii arranges for the transfer and storage of the speculative cargo. Unfortunately, due to the arrival of a large freighter, the first available transfer is set for 0730 tomorrow morning. The crew then turns in, some having a more restful night’s sleep than others. After an early rise and a light breakfast, the two Sare fan club parties set out for the respective meetings while Martha readies the ship for its move and Vasilii frets. *Hallentien is the Marquis of Sentry.</blockquote>

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