Betta saw no reason to lie. “You know, I’ve always wanted a planet of my own. Someplace that can’t be touched by anyone else, a paradise. No pollution, no shady corporate holds on resources, something that’s protected and my own.”
Jadis leaned back, whistling. “So, you’re an idealist after all. I took you for a profiteer—like myself. A whole planet. That’d take… I can’t even imagine the marks you’d need to—”
“Three hundred and fifty billion. Do you have a deal that can land me those types of marks?” Betta asked.
Larry put two cups on the table that sat between the two couches. Betta nodded her thanks and took the cup into her hands. It was warm. She took a sip, and, for a moment, she lost control and moaned at the taste of chocolate, not too sweet, but nowhere near bitter.
Jadis’s eyes perked up at that. “Is it good? Cocoa? I love cocoa.”
He reached for the cup, yet he paused before taking a sip. “I don’t think I have that type of deal. If I did, I would already be on a jump vessel somewhere really lavish. I can offer you something significant. How would you like to have an independent source of deuterium that isn’t gouged by Pilo tariffs?”
The fusion reactors that powered the station and many of the vessels under Pilo needed deuterium to function. All sources were mined and controlled by Pilo, and thus Pilo controlled the space trade.
“That is a double-edged offer. Profit would increase, but we’d lose some of the protections under Pilo. I’d have to calculate whether the gain would be worth the loss.”
He took a long swallow, staring at her across the cup. “So good. I can tell you’re interested.”
“I’d be a fool not to be,” Betta admitted
“Two days,” Jadis said.
“What?” Betta was clearly confused.
“It’s a two-day journey with my vessel. You have the equipment and personnel to do deep scans—”
“Really?” Betta shook her in understanding. This was all a lure to use the mining equipment she’d acquired with her purchase of the station. It all made sense as well as added some credibility to his find.
“I need your equipment and your people to verify the find.” Jadis didn’t seem like he was attempting to con her. His tone was more pleading.
“Extraction?” Betta asked.
“We invest together and split the inventory fifty-fifty.”
“How is it fifty-fifty? You’re using my equipment to survey. Seventy-thirty sounds fair.”
“But you’ll need my investment capital for extraction. Not to mention, I found the resources and I can guarantee it’s out of Pilo’s grip. I’ll also handle the transference of rights and contract necessities,” Jadis took another long swallow.
Betta shook her head. “You can work with Teena on contract necessities.”
Jadis sighed. “You don’t trust me? I wouldn’t deal you bad, Betta.”
“Sixty-forty,” Betta offered.
“Deal!” Jadis inclined his head.
Teena stepped closer. “This conversation and agreement have been recorded. You’ll each receive a confirmation of the terms and agreements on your Readers. We will not proceed until you have both read over the documents and sign.”
Betta nodded, suddenly feeling fatigued. “You’ll stay until we have things finalized?”
“It should only take a few hours, but it looks like you still have some stasis sickness. Is twenty-four hours enough to get a survey team together and give you time to recover?” Betta agreed that she must be sick. She thought she heard concern in his voice.
Teena shook her head. “We have a schedule to keep, Mister Ter. I am afraid Miss Reganta is fully booked for the next 72 hours.”
“A good sleep should get me right,” Betta said weakly, attempting to gather some strength from the delicious pastry and warm cocoa.
“Or,” he said with a wink, “You could let me borrow your executive manager for a few days.”
“I’ll need her to keep a reign on the station. We open for business with the Half-Holiday. I need her here.” Betta sighed. “And she needs me to get things started. Our venture will have to wait the full 72 hours.”
“As you say, Miss Reganta,” Teena said.
“Yes. As you say, Miss Reganta,” Jadis mimicked, his eyes on Teena.
Teena frowned, but she said nothing else.
The download stopped at 56 percent. It was obvious that someone noticed he was hacking the system. Jadis sighed as the lift came to a stop. His neck was itching again. It was a risk agreeing to 72-hours on the station, though he doubted anyone would be suspicious if he slipped back to his vessel for a few hours.
Jadis had hoped it would only take an hour to convince her and a few days in open space to gain her trust.
Even before he exited the lift and entered The Disc, he could feel the increase in gravity. He stepped onto a paved surface and observed a multitude of structures that ran to the edge of his vision. He increased the magnification with a thought and surveyed the full extent of the five-kilometer disc. There were shops, amusement parks, theaters, hotels, restaurants, and many other structures he couldn’t place or simply did not have the magnification to see the lettering.
Jadis’s power stations were a uniform series of structures with an occasional hall or corridor that led to another structure. The gravity was also not this heavy and many a new miner found themselves being tethered to a hand hold and guided to the next establishment.
This station—Betta’s Station—was like stepping on a new world. There were trees from many different worlds that jutted into the high ceiling that projected a moving image of a clear day with just the right amount of clouds and just the right amount of sunlight. There was even an artificial breeze that ruffled the flaps of Jadis’s coat.
The paved roads had actual signs like something out of an old vid of suburban neighborhoods in the 1900s. The landscape was shocked with the occasional out-of-place items, like the dome of a Drafer establishment, a holographic image of a cartoonish man eating a burger, or the empty vehicles that moved along these paths at regular intervals. At times they picked up individuals, and at others, they merely paused before repeating their routes.
One of the automated carts rolled to a stop before Jadis. The door opened to two empty seats.
“All aboard, sir?” the mechanical voice inquired.
“Stars, this really is quite the production. Let me ask you, my fine A.I.” Jadis was already looking over the code structure and learning the subroutines that it was written to perform. “How does a girl from a nowhere mining planet get enough marks to put on a production like this?”
“You can call me Sam, sir. As for our proprietor and owner, you can easily lift the veil of mystery by reading her financial dealings. They are publicly available. Do you have a destination in mind, sir?”
“I’ve read them. It seems too easy. And we all know that Pilo can sometimes manipulate a document to look one way and read another.”
“Ah, you are a skeptic, sir,” the automated driver stated.
“As opposed to a believer?” Jadis asked.
“Yes, sir. Do you have a destination in mind, sir?”
Jadis strained his neck muscles in an effort to relieve the itching. Still, it continued unabated. He entered the cart and sat on the synth leather seats. Just the act of sitting caused him some discomfort. Hiding his grimace with a mischievous smile he sat back, giving the impression of a man used to such actions and ready for no good.
“Take me somewhere I can get a drink and then a quality hotel. The bill is on your proprietor and owner, by the by, so make sure it’s luxurious.”