“Well, get on with it and say what you’re offering.” Kromner frowned, the ample flesh of his cheeks pulling down his eyes at the corners as they slid for the first time over to the younger man sitting next to Dauk, who hadn’t spoken at all thus far. “And who’s this you’ve got with you? Doesn’t he talk at all?”
Dauk said, “Kaul Hiloshudon is a representative of one of the Green Bone clans in Kekon. He’s come from Janloon at my request.” The Bosses looked at the stranger next to Dauk with interest now. He was young, in his early thirties, though Kromner had a hard time guessing when it came to the Kekonese. He was looking back and forth attentively between the speakers during the conversation, and he was apparently important enough to travel with his own bodyguard, an equally young, tough-looking man who stood near the wall behind him. Kromner had to admit that there was something to be said for the kecks. They were a proud race, a don’t-fuck-with-me race; the women looked haughty and the men looked like they would put a knife in your side for the fun of it if you looked at them the wrong way. Blaise Kromner liked that about the kecks; they didn’t lie down easily, that was for sure, which was why he had to break their monopoly on jade or wipe their gemstone-toting toughs out of the city.
Dauk said something to the man next to him. The visitor nodded, then sat forward and began speaking in Kekonese, pausing frequently so that Dauk could translate his words into Espenian. “I understand that your organization wants to get in on the international jade market,” said the young man. “Kekon is the only place on earth to get jade, and it’s controlled by the Green Bone clans; anyone who wants to trade in green has to go through them. I come from one of the most powerful clans in my country and have complete authority to negotiate an agreement.”
Kromner looked to Dauk. “You’re saying this fellow can sell us jade?”
Dauk nodded slowly. “I will act as the go-between in this deal, but I don’t want any share of it for myself. You can get jade straight from Kekon, and the price for my part in this is that we reestablish the peace in Port Massy. If the Crews agree to leave us complete control over our part of Southtrap, including the freedom to run all our businesses and our grudge halls as we see fit, then we can broker a new agreement that benefits everyone.”
“That sounds reasonable to me, Blaise,” said Jo Boy Gasson, who had nothing at risk in Southtrap but was sure to benefit from the legal and political graft that would inevitably be necessary in such a venture. Kromner ignored him and said, with a strong hint of suspicion in his voice as he looked from Kaul to Dauk, “I thought you people didn’t sell jade to outsiders.”
Dauk made a face that looked rather pained, then spoke again in Kekonese to the man next to him. Kaul replied and Dauk relayed his words. “That used to be true. It’s admirable that our countrymen abroad are able to stick to tradition and keep jade to themselves. Often it’s the immigrants that hold on to the old ways while those of us in Kekon have to keep pace with the changing times. The truth is, my clan is in a long-standing war with another clan and we need the money. They’ve been selling jade and shine in Ygutan and so they have the advantage over us. We need our own markets.” The visitor waited patiently as Dauk caught up in the translation. “Any agreement we come to today would have to involve an entirely secure transaction. Our confidentiality has to be guaranteed. You see, the government of Kekon sells jade to the Espenian military, and it would be bad for my clan, which has ties within the government, to be selling jade to the Crews at the same time.”
Kromner waved a hand as if to dispel the concern. “That’s not a problem, we can promise that,” he said quickly. “How much could you sell to us, and at what price?”
The visitor said, “That depends on whether it’s raw or cut. There’s a state cartel—the Kekon Jade Alliance—that strictly regulates how much jade is mined and processed in Kekon. So there’s a tight supply of cut jade, and it’s very expensive. Raw jade can be smuggled out of the mines, so you’d get much more for your money, but it’s useless unless you have workers who can carve and polish it.”
Boss Kromner addressed his foreman for the first time. “Skinny, what do you think?”
“I think we can easily rustle up enough migrant laborers, Boss,” Reams said.
Dauk said, with concern, “Jade is dangerous for non-Kekonese to handle.”
“We know that,” Kromner retorted. “You think I’d go into a business without knowing anything about it, without doing my research? It was Espenia that created shine, not your country. With all the soldiers in Oortoko and the war vets that’ll need the drugs, you don’t think we can get SN1? If Skinny says we can get the labor, it’ll be no problem to keep them doped.”
Dauk conveyed this to the Kekonese clan representative, who said, “Raw jade, then. So long as you understand that the quality varies naturally in any given amount of uncut rock. Usually, you can expect about a thirty to fifty percent yield of cut jade.” Kaul leaned his arms on the table. “The market rate these days is ten million thalirs per kilogram.”
God, Seer, and Truth, that amount of money made even the Southside Crew’s lucrative narcotics trade look like small money. Even Blaise the Bull Kromner could not enter into such an expensive venture on his own, and before answering the Kekonese, he said to the other Bosses, “Now you know I’m getting into this for serious money. I’m not asking either the Baker Street or Wormingwood Crews to be a part of Southside’s business, but we can all see it’s serious money. If you want to be involved, now’s the time to speak. If you don’t, then feel free to say so, but I expect the old crewboy’s courtesies that we leave each other to eat well.”
Jo Boy Gasson smoothed his tie and said, “My Crew isn’t interested in handling jade ourselves. Too risky, and too much heat. We’re bookmakers, not fighters, you all know that. But we can front the money and handle all the financing in exchange for the usual cut. And we can pay the people who need to be paid to look the other way.” It was exactly what Kromner had expected, indeed it would’ve been difficult to proceed without it; he nodded in ready agreement.
Anga Slatter said, “Blaise, you know Ricky is going to expect that the Wormingwood Crew should have at least part of the action in this. If we’re talking about smuggling jade into the country from across the ocean, well, any shipments that come in or out of the city go through the ports, and we control the dockworkers unions. So let’s figure a fifteen percent cut, in exchange for getting the goods safely through the harbor. I have to clear all this with Ricky, of course,” she added, “but I’ll turn on the wifely charms, and I’m sure he’ll agree if you do.”
Kromner was disinclined to give any percent to that fool Sharp Ricky or his woman, but he thought about it and decided that fifteen percent was reasonable to guarantee the Wormingwood Crew’s cooperation and prevent him from having to spend his own people’s time and energy on getting the goods through the harborfront. Kromner entertained longer-term thoughts about taking over Wormingwood completely, after he’d established himself in the jade trade and the Southside Crew was large and strong enough to make the expansion. So he intended to get the percentage back eventually and didn’t quibble over it now. “Tell Ricky it’s fine by me.”
Throughout this discussion, Mr. Dauk and his Kekonese guest waited, the older man with a slightly anxious frown, the younger looking at the Bosses and their foremen with a strangely unmoving, but slightly off-center gaze, as if he was concentrating on something else while the Espenians talked. Kromner squinted at the man, then turned to Dauk and said, “Tell your friend that I’ll pay him seven hundred million thalirs for a hundred kilos of jade rock.”