Spinward Fringe Broadcast 7: Framework Page 5

  “Right,” Ayan cut him short. “Screw the Triton. Screw the claim that was legitimised by the Aucharians.”

  “That claim can’t be verified, their government has collapsed and is still in a state of cris-“

  “I know!” Ayan burst. “For the hundredth bloody time, I know!” She took a breath and went on.

  “Port law,” the negotiator said, red faced, “states simply, ‘If her rightful owner doesn't claim her in five years, the first claimant can pay her docking and repair fees then the ship defaults to the most suitable claimant’ and that’s Lucius Wheeler, then you, Commander. You should take comfort in that, it’s a generous ruling because we don’t see any command codes, and the Carthan War Act gives us the option of using the ship ourselves for those five years. That is, unless you provide command codes.”

  Ayan felt like her blood was boiling; his repetition of the law was making her angrier by the second. "Fine,” she spat through clenched teeth. Ayan took a breath and continued. “Since we're the second claimants in line we'll deal with that when the time comes. For the time being, let's move these negotiations to their logical conclusion, shall we?" Ayan stated bitterly. She brought up the boardwalk they'd had the funeral service on and sent the image to the map on the table. "I want that land, I'll pass on your offer for the weaponry aboard Enforcer Eleven Oh Nine, take fourty three million Galactic Currency for what's left of it, and you'll give us a five percent increase on any captured food, essential technology or building materials we bring you.”

  "Ayan, are you sure about this?" Jason asked urgently. "We've gained a lot of ground over the last six weeks. The contract we've negotiated so far is worth more than currency and land: a say in politics for this hemisphere, orbital dock privileges, departure arrangements for anyone leaving the crew, not to mention rights to emergency aid."

  "Land ownership will get us the rights we need to influence what goes on nearby, and we won't need emergency aid if we can afford to feed ourselves. They're buying time because they don't want to, or have the cash to pay us fairly. Everyone in this room knows that," Ayan retorted. "To put faith in this negotiation process is to let them set the time table, and we can't afford that."

  “Your colleague brings up a few good points. What will you do with departing crewmembers and workers if there are no arrangements for them to join the Carthan work force or leave the solar system?” Percy asked.

  “If they're so hot to leave, they can pay their own way off-world with what they earn while they're working for us. Let me finish giving you my demands,” Ayan said forcefully, clearly. “The land you give us will be a full grant of property and sovereignty. I know you've given parcels of land away to other settling crews, so that shouldn't be a problem. Aside from that, you'll provide us with an unregulated communications band to operate on in your space, permanent passes for Navnet, clearance to make our own recognised local idents and the Carthan government will pardon everyone under my command of all crimes, no questions asked.” Ayan brought up the legal documents that Jason had prepared over the past six weeks. They were a comprehensive defence of Jacob Valance and a petition to rescind the order to detain his crew for questioning. There was also a land grant application with as many useful options selected as possible, and their claim as an independent government. "The Carthan government will ratify this document without amending it. You'll also extend your legal protection to the Samson crew, so they cannot be captured in your space or allied territory."

  Percy began to skim through the document's preamble.

  "It hasn't changed since we presented it to your team four days ago," Jason said wearily.

  The negotiator inhaled sharply and started to shake his head. "Sovereignty isn't on the table. Neither is signing a document that backs a terrorist."

  “You lend Jake Valance your support or the entire Carthan government looks like a pack of idiots when the petition for dismissal my legal people transmitted last week hits.”

  “Petition for dismissal?” asked Percy. "Something like this has been transmitted outside of these negotiations?"

  Ayan flicked her finger across her transparent blue bracelet and another petition appeared above the table. “It states that Jonas Valent and Jacob Valance are two separate entities, citing years worth of evidence including a death record from the Triton that your government just certified when they wrapped up their forensic analysis of her logs. The Galactic courts, Order of Eden, and Regent Galactic have no case against Jacob, and in a few days' time, it'll be interstellar news. Now, how is it going to look if the Carthan government didn't back him while he was in their space? Everyone is watching this solar system. Even Hart News has a ship here, and I'm sure they'd love to cover every end of our falling out with the Carthan government.”

  “If we pardon him, the land grant gets pushed off the table completely, never mind sovereignty.”

  Ayan's short laughter came almost as a bark. She strode for the door. Her feet were moving in that direction before she realised it, but by the time she was half way out of the room she was fully committed to leaving for good.

  “Where are you going?” Percy asked, alarmed.

  “To open up talks with another government and get my people ready to leave. The British Union already has laws that will protect Jacob Valance and I hear they're on their way here. When the charges against Valance are dismissed, everyone who has suffered damage from the Order of Eden will want him. Unlike you lot, I'm smart enough to make sure that I'm standing right beside him when that happens.” Jason, Laura, and Liam all started to leave as well.

  “All right! But I can only give you the dockside, not the adjacent land. There's an island offshore with a moderate tropical climate, your people can build a settlement there." Percy replied hurriedly. "A sizeable settlement. We were going to start a new batch of land grants on Tamber next month, and those are the premium lots."

  Ayan stopped and made eye contact with Liam, who wore a slightly surprised smile. That expression slowly changed into a look of approval. She looked back to Percy, who was hurriedly bringing up a holographic image of an island with a cliff face on one side, dense jungle in the higher, central regions, and gently sloped white dunes on the other side. She knew it well. When Jason put it on the list of requested parcels on their land grant application, she argued with him about reaching too far. It would be large enough to build permanent settlements for many times their number. "No one has a claim to this island?" she asked with an upturned eyebrow as she read the details listed on the tabletop.

  "No one, but we won’t allow anything but zero emissions craft and power provisioning near it for the time being. You're going to have to build your own infrastructure and obey all environmental laws,” Percy explained. It looked as though he was fighting to keep his job. Something about her party leaving the room without a resolution had rattled him.

  “Who owned it before?” Liam Grady asked.

  "It was a wilderness development project, only scientists and agricultural experts lived there and most of them are dead or gone. It belongs to the government, and we're willing to give it to you in trade for forty two percent of the value of the Enforcer eleven-oh-nine and mechanical fixtures. That leaves a little over eighteen million in Galactic Currency, which we can deliver in two days."

  "You’re not serious,” Ayan said. “The land grant will be in addition to what you owe us for the Enforcer. You should consider yourselves lucky that we’ve loaned you the use of our fighter squadrons and helped you monitor our sector for defence and navnet.”

  “We pay you fairly for that on a flight by flight basis,” Percy countered.

  “Everyone else is offering more. We could have made triple your rate if we ran security for shipments coming into the system,” Jason said. “She’s right, you’ve had us for a bargain.”

  “Do you have the power to make this decision?” asked Liam quietly. “You know we will be a positive influence on the political landscape of this moon, it will serve your ca
reer well in the long run.”

  Percy looked surprised by the statement, as though his authority had been questioned one moment, then he was given the justification he needed to agree to their terms the next. “I’ll approve this on the condition that I write three things in,” he said in a calmer tone.

  “I’m listening,” Ayan said, sitting down at the opposite end of the table.

  “You’ll get a launching area on that beach instead of a full-on section. Acquiring adjacent land is up to you. Secondly, you’ll be responsible for defending the island, and proportionally defending our orbital space. Lastly, Jacob Valance will appear and accept a Carthan statement of support in person.”

  “And you’re paying us the full price of our captured ship? Granting us full sovereignty? Agreeing to the rest of our terms?” Ayan asked.

  “With the amendments I just put forward, yes.”

  Ayan looked to Jason, who looked relieved, then to Liam, who nodded calmly, and to Laura, who whispered, “just approve it before he thinks of something else.”

  Relief washed over Ayan as she brought the amended contract up on the table, brought up an ident entry box and put her hand down on it. “Your turn,” she told Percy.

  Three people entered from a door behind Percy. Two were witnesses from his office, wearing squared suit coats, and the third was a colonel. His uniform wasn’t like the ornate type she’d been seeing for weeks. The armour he wore was pockmarked, its dark surface discoloured from heat damage. Symbols signifying combat medals scrolled across a small section of his left breastplate. He spared Ayan and her party only a momentary glance before focusing on the blinking approval square on the table. “On with it, I have work to do,” he muttered at Percy.

  Percy pressed his hand to the designated part of the table. The military representative was next, and he was out the door before the other two witnesses did their part.

  Laura, Jason, and Liam all submitted their approval by pressing their hands on the identity verification box and the contract blinked green. It was as good as law.

  Percy stood and straightened his black suit jacket. He started down the length of the table, and Ayan met him half way. “I know it’s been a long process, so you may not believe me, but it’s been a pleasure negotiating with you,” he said.

  “I think everyone will be happy in the end,” Ayan replied, offering a smile. “Thank you, Percy.”

  He nodded, seemingly more at ease, and said, “you’re welcome,” before heading for the door. “The room is yours for as long as you need.”

  As soon as the door closed behind him, Jason activated a small cylindrical surveillance scrambler and set it on the table. "An island and sovereignty. I knew he had a lot of negotiating power to play with, but that's way past what I would have pushed for."

  "You and I both. I didn't expect him to offer anything like this," Ayan agreed.

  "When I said we'd probably be walking away from the table today, I expected the worst. I didn't think they'd offer us anything like this. It's got to be half quicksand and half man-eating jungle," Laura chuckled as she started looking at reports from numerous scientists who had worked there.

  “Not at all,” Liam said. “Where quicksand is concerned, at least. As far as man-eaters, the biological record doesn’t show anything big enough, but they’re four years old, so we can’t know for sure.”

  “I wasn’t serious,” Laura said.

  “I know,” Liam said with a wink. "They are desperate for privateers, and this moon is more than they can govern," Liam said quietly. "Kambis is many, many times the size of Tamber, and it's their priority. Their presence on Tamber can't be beneficial yet, especially since they can't spare the men or equipment to provide law enforcement outside of Grey Dock. It's a good idea for them to give land to people who need it, especially when it's likely that whoever they grant the land to will give up once they realise how much work it will take to build an environmentally-friendly landing structure." He brought up the geological scans of the island and studied them.

  “Only, we won’t be privateering,” Jason said. He brought up a specific article and enlarged it. “This is more of a treaty, giving a new government guidelines for formation on their world. We can form our own military, and we agreed to this before they could put any restrictions on size, that’s the real win here.”

  “Good thing they brought in someone from the military who has better things to do,” Laura said.

  “We lucked out,” Jason said. “Poor guy was probably just passing by when his comm beeped with orders to put a military stamp on a civilian negotiation.”

  “Or,” Liam said, bringing up the identity of their Carthan Military approver. Colonel Jarod Ironmonger was his name, and he had served for eight years as the tail end of a penal term, then continued to serve in the Carthan military for another twenty-seven. “He’s been following this and supports us. Like you said, they need fighters, allies.”

  “I’ll do some research,” Jason said. “If you’re right, I want to know for sure.”

  Jason was looking through the negotiation logs for the day, ensuring that everything they discussed and agreed on was reflected in the document. They only had twenty hours to do so, and at the rate he was working, he’d be finished in minutes. "I don't see any surprises here, but there is a clause that states that if the island is under-utilised for more then three years, it becomes Carthan property again. What they term as under-utilised isn't a problem for us. If we settle there, half of the people we have will be plenty to demonstrate occupation. What you're saying about them being stretched thin is true too. They're contracting out most of the law enforcement on Kambis, and I've been seeing reports on the Stellarnet of Confederate rebels in every big city in the solar system. If there's one thing the Carthans know for sure, it's that we're not Confederates who refuse to leave, and we'll defend whatever they give us."

  “So Tamber is home now,” Laura said quietly.

  “Are you all right with that?” Ayan asked.

  “Yeah, it just happened so fast at the end that it’s like a surprise, even though I knew a land grant was something we were looking for,” Laura replied. “National Sovereignty though, that’s something I never thought we’d get. I mean, I understood why we kept putting it on the table, you need to ask big so the lower option is still good, but getting it... Wow. It’s just starting to settle in.”

  “The Carthans don’t have time to govern us,” Jason said. “I think it’s that simple. I wonder how happy Jake will be with this. He doesn’t seem like the ‘land and settle’ type.”

  Ayan had been avoiding the thought. “We need a base of operations. We’ll be able to operate from a stable base. It won’t be privateering, but better. I only wish we didn’t still have to pay for slips in Port Rush, but it’s going to take us months to build a proper spaceport.” She shook her head at the realisation.

  Liam’s hand landed gently on her shoulder as he asked, “are you all right?”

  “It’s just a lot to think on,” Ayan answered. “You ask for something for so long not thinking you’ll get it, then it’s yours and you have to deliver.”

  “You’re not alone,” Liam said.

  She patted his hand and looked into his brown eyes, smiling. “I know.” A long moment passed as she shared a gaze with him. Her bracelet sent a sense that there was an incoming message. She shook herself free of the moment with a long inhale.

  Ayan looked at the short text message and raised an eyebrow. “It’s Jake, he’s in Gray Dock.”

  “He’s supposed to be blending in with the salvage workers aboard the Enforcer,” Jason said.

  “Well, he’s here, has a surprise for me,” Ayan said. “Are you all right reviewing the rest of this yourself?”

  “Go ahead, you two have barely seen each other in weeks,” Laura said, interrupting an objection from Jason.

  “Can you hold off on sending the news of this out for a few minutes? I’d like to surprise Jake,” Ayan asked Jason.
>
  “Sure,” he said, not looking away from the scrolling documents in front of him. “You go have fun.”

  Chapter 7

  Reporting In

  The debrief on Skydock was thorough and boring. Minh’s entire squadron was held after their ten hour patrol was concluded. Even though the core of the orbital station looked ancient from the outside, the condition of the interior was remarkable. The surfaces were clean, but not reflective, as he would have thought they were. The matte finish had the strange characteristic of looking like it wanted to shine, but the reflections were somehow impeded by the surface coat of metallic green and silver.

  He and Slick were the last to leave the briefing room, a half-circle space with blue padded seats surrounding a small stage in the centre. He’d said everything he had to, filled in all the blanks, and the rest of his wing had done the same.

  “Hold one moment,” called Lieutenant Commander Moda.

  Slick and Ronin stopped and turned. The twelve pilots under their command, all formerly from the Triton, waited expectantly in the hall. The tall, wiry Lieutenant Commander in charge of patrol outsourcing for that sector smiled at them a little nervously. She seemed new in her command. “I have a couple more questions for you two,” she said, closing the distance between them.

  “Fire away,” Minh replied.

  “First, for the record, what is the name of your fighter wing? Does it have one yet?”

  They were still tossing around ideas, and Minh was still undecided, so he hesitated. It seemed that Slick had already made up his mind, judging from his answer. “Samurai Squadron,” he said.

  Minh regarded Slick with an upraised eyebrow for a moment, but his former copilot didn’t react, so he nodded. “That’s us. Samurai Squadron, under the direction of Ronin.” He was a little surprised when no one caught the issue with the terms ‘Samurai’ and ‘Ronin’ mingling.

  “All right, it is so recorded,” replied the Lieutenant Commander. “I have an elective question for you: Did you think the Carthan military responded appropriately to the threat?”