"Valerian seemed to take the whole thing pretty well when I messaged," Borodov was commenting. "But then, it did relieve the pressure on Sherrington to finish their M-five for next year's Tarrott race. It's clear to me that we can never complete our Wizard in their promised time frame."
"I understand," Brim said. "But you say Valerian still claimed he could produce a competitive racer in time for the next race."
"I read his words with my own eyes only cycles ago," the old Bear declared, lighting his Zempa pipe again.
"He might just be able to do such a thing," Ursis declared "A number of improved Drives were developed during the war. Perhaps with one of them in place of the Wizard, he can at least make the new ship competitive."
"Sounds like the best shot we have at the race right now," Brim admitted, "and we've got to enter some sort of competitive ship, or we'll simply give the trophy away." He shrugged, "I suppose I'll find out everything when I get to Rhodor." Just then, he looked up to see Anna Romanoff follow a majordomo into the big room, leading a group of human administrators. Brim recognized a few from the ISS meeting in Atalanta. His eyes met Romanoff's almost immediately—in a room full of Bears, furless beings like humans tended to stand out conspicuously. Slim and almost fragile looking as usual, she was dressed in a simple, dark blue business suit that, for all its professionalism, did little to conceal what was clearly a most alluring figure. She smiled and made a little wave as she sat; then a portly, red-faced man in executive pinstripes began speaking to her from the corner of his mouth while pointing assertively at a portable display.
"One can only pity poor Romanoff at this moment," Ursis observed with a wise nod of his head and a chuckle. "I have had encounters with that man myself: Sforzo Granada, self-appointed protector of the Society treasury."
Brim shrugged. "Probably comes with the job," he observed. "She looks like she can take care of herself."
"True," Ursis said, taking a sip of meem. "But one gets the distinct impression that she might prefer to be spending her time with you, Wilf Ansor."
"Nice thought," Brim said, feeling his face color in spite of himself. As he had observed in Atalanta, Anna Romanoff was just plain sexy.
"I should imagine so," Ursis observed. "Were I drawn in such a way to human beings, I might say that she appears to be a genuinely attractive woman."
At that moment, they were joined by a group of bantering propulsion engineers from the Experimental Section, and the conversation became very technical.
On a whim, Brim excused himself from the ad-hoc academic caucus, got to his feet, and made his way among the tables toward Romanoff. Sforzo Granada was still prattling on, every now and then punctuating his remarks by poking a pudgy finger at the display. "Pardon me, Miss Romanoff," the Carescrian interrupted with a smile he was hard-pressed to conceal, "do you suppose you might spare a few moments to discuss, ah... er...Drive financing?"
Romanoff looked up, frowned for a moment, then returned his smile with a little one of her own—mostly with her brown eyes. "Drive underwriting," she corrected demurely, toying with the huge lace ruffle she wore at her neck, "—and yes, we should spend some time discussing the subject." She glanced at Granada who was peering disapprovingly at Brim as if he were some sort of panhandler. "I shall be finished here in just a few cycles," she said. "Shall I meet you at the table with your friends?"
Brim nodded, and grinned again in spite of himself. "Thank you, Miss Romanoff," he said. "I shall attempt to have all the facts together by that time."
True to her word, Romanoff appeared only a few cycles later. Immediately, the Bears stood and cleared a place, old Borodov introducing her around and ordering a goblet of Logish Meem as if she were an honored guest. The delicate businesswoman seemed oddly surprised at the attention. When the Bears eased themselves back to their technical conversations, Brim looked at her and grinned with embarrassment. "Hmm," he said. "I'm afraid I've already run out of things to say—at least anything that might interest a real financier."
Romanoff took a deep breath. "I shouldn't be too sure of that, Mr. Brim," she said. "You can't imagine how much I long to hear someone talk of anything but finance once in a while." Then her eyes grew as large as saucers. "Like what happened to the Ivan Ivanov. It's all over Krasni-Peych that the Wizard got out of control this morning. And I understand you were aboard. Was it awful?"
"Oh, I was aboard," Brim said with a chuckle, "and it could have been awful. But it wasn't. The test pod ripped away and banged up one of Ivanov's hulls, that's all. Nobody even got hurt—more to the credit of Lady Fortune than good management, according to the Bears." Then he stopped and wrinkled his nose. "You called me Mister Brim, didn't you?"
"I did," Romanoff said with an arched eyebrow. "You called me Miss Romanoff, you know."
Brim thought for a moment. "That's a fact—I did," he admitted. "I guess I just thought that's the way businesspeople talk to one another."
"I don't know you well enough to repeat the kind of names we really use," Romanoff said with a laugh.
"We're a pretty contentious bunch when it comes right down to things."
"Tell you what," Brim suggested. "How about calling me Wilf from now on? That way, I can go ahead and call you Anna. It'll be simpler for both of us."
"Wilf," Romanoff said with a relieved look on her face, "you've got a deal. But we won't have much time to practice this trip. I've got to make a business call to another client here on Sodeskaya before long." In spite of her words, however, she did appear to relax for a moment—the first time that Brim could remember seeing her that way. She sipped her meem carefully for a moment, then looked him squarely in the eye. "How does it feel to pilot a starship?" she asked suddenly, almost as if she were embarrassed by the question. "What's it like to command all that power—have it at your very fingertips?"
This time, it was Brim who raised an eyebrow. He grimaced. "Why..." he started. "I never really thought about it." He shrugged. "It's just something I do, I suppose."
"Can you tell me?" she persisted.
"I don't know," Brim answered truthfully. He thought a moment. "I think I could show you a lot easier," he said, glancing through the window. Outside, near the end of the Becton tube, a little Sherrington Type 224 hovered on a gravity pad. "If you had a couple of cycles, I could probably take you aboard that little executive ship out there." Then he shrugged. "Maybe some other time, when you don't have so much else to do."
Romanoff frowned for a moment. "You could actually take me on the bridge of that starship?" she asked with an excited look in her eyes. "Right now?"
Brim pursed his lips. "Well," he said, "I'd have to ask my friend Ursis about it first."
"Would you?" Romanoff asked. "I suppose I could make my call later."
Elated by the opportunity to accommodate this most attractive woman, Brim tapped Ursis on the arm.
"Do you think there's any possibility of Anna and I going aboard the little 224 out there?" he asked, nodding toward the window.
Ursis peered out at the flight apron, turned to glance for a moment at Romanoff, then smiled. "Hmm," he mused. "It seems to me that the Principal Helmsman for the ISS certainly ought to be able to check out a Sherrington—for instructional purposes, if nothing else." He nodded his head, as if testing out his reasoning. "A moment," he said, raising a long index finger, "I shall see what I can do." With that, he excused himself from his colleagues and ambled over to a house phone, where he carried on a short conversation with someone Brim couldn't see. He was back at the table in a matter of moments. "It is taken care of, Wilf," he declared. "By the time the two of you have reached the boarding tube, the ship will be powered up. I am informed that it is ready to fly." He looked at Brim. "We should leave for the terminal within three metacycles at the latest, Wilf, if you are to catch the AkroKahn liner for Rhodor."