Cocoon: Book 1 - Chapter 2
“I, Gangen Drong, pledge my name and seed to the contractual union of comhouses Makira and Drong. I pledge the shares, the moons, and all that is the comhouse’s to give, on the condition that Exy. Saku Makira pledges the same.”
-Gangen Drong, Makira-Drong merger, 2764
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“You don’t have much of a choice, unfortunately,” Alisair said. “My mother is doing you a favor by purchasing your comhouse.”
Carlosa Regal maintained the facade. “I see. Is it a matter of faith?” He stroked his thin, wispy beard, eyeing Alisair carefully. His three guards stood still behind him, faces masked. The air was slightly humid, and Alisair resisted the urge to wipe her brow.
“Faith has nothing to do with it,” she replied. “The Regal comhouse no longer generates enough revenue to justify your continued existence as majority shareholder. As the second largest shareholder, we’d like a transfer of your assets in as smooth a manner as possible.”
Regal smiled, the way a reptile might. “Faith has everything to do with it, then.”
The white room they sat in was as sterile and synthetic as the paltry grin on Regal’s face. Alisair had been warned about the exy’s mannerisms prior to her arrival on the planet Mireuk, the headquarters of Comhouse Regal.
“Mercenaries destroy my water farms, and kill my employees. Comhouse Makira-Drong loses faith?” Regal asked, with a genuine innocence to his voice–an innocence Alisair saw through.
“If you’ll recall, Exy Regal, we did provide greater security in the previous year–yet your annual report only became less impressive. It’s clear to Makira-Drong that your leadership no longer makes your company profitable for us to invest–”
“Ah, here comes the ultimatum,” Regal said.
Alisair blinked. “What?”
“Either I sell my shares to you willingly–or your mother relinquishes hers, and I’m left with a financial ouroboros. Quite clever of your mother, really; allowing the elimination of my employees in order to worsen my bet.”
Alisair raised an eyebrow one millimeter. “Makira-Drong has provided you with more than enough security.” One of Regal’s guards swayed slightly, she noticed. A weak one.
“Yet your mother never got the GPSF involved.” The word mother was laced with cold venom.
“That power does not belong to Comhouse Makira. Or Comhouse Drong, for that matter.”
“So tell me,” Regal said. “What the fuck is the purpose of the Union?”
Alisair squinted at the swear word. “Will the answer to that question finally make you understand reason?”
“Doubtful, but possible.”
“The Union acts as a barrier between rivaling comhouses, Exy. Regal,” Alisair said sharply. “They do not recklessly chase every pirate in the galaxy, as you seem to think.”
“I have reason to believe the attacks come from Comhouse Kraznik… but I’d rather discuss such matters with your mother, the Exy.” Regal said with a poisonous grin.
“Unfortunately, Exy. Saku Makira is unavailable at the moment.”
“How unfortunate indeed,” Regal said without emotion.
His guards moved fast, but not fast enough. Before they could raise their arms to fire on her, Alisair had already neutralized the three of them with lethal darts in a split-second. The dartholes in her fingers closed as they fell to the floor, necks punctured.
Regal didn’t break his peculiar little smile, which surprised Alisair–she was even surprised that she’d managed to hit all three in one swoop. Not that she would’ve allowed it to show. “I see the kevskin I was sold was about as effective as you.”
“Not necessarily,” Alisair said. “These darts were just designed to pierce it.”
Regal said nothing. Yet his smile persisted.
“I wonder what Exy. Saku Makira will think when I tell her you attempted to have me taken hostage.”
“I do wonder.”
Alisair was there alone, as a show of confidence. She knew there was little possibility of escaping without a fight, and she only had seven darts left. Seven darts with which to take out at least thirty guards. The odds were not in her favor, but she refused to allow the panic to rise. Action was preferable to dread.
Alisair pointed a finger at Regal. “Transfer your shares to me or you die, right now.”
Regal laughed with an oddly jovial tone. “And what happens when I transfer them, eh?”
“You receive an estate on Ebisu. You live out your days a wealthy man. You don’t die in the next minute.” Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, she thought to herself.
“My dear,” Regal said. “Both of us are doomed. I would rather be killed in my own home than live as your mother’s concubine, a lackey to her brutish comhouse.”
Alisair shrugged, feigning confidence. Inside, the knot in her stomach tightened. The mission was not going as intended, not at all. She’d been under the impression before her arrival that Regal was all but ready to renounce his comhouse’s shares. How wrong her advisers had been. A man who lived for as long as Carlosa Regal would never relinquish any semblance of power. She found herself frustrated with her mother for sending her as a substitute.
Frustration did her no good. Thoughts ran through Alisair’s head at lightspeed. Even if she escaped, word would quickly spread that she’d killed three guards in Regal’s employ. It would reflect poorly upon her comhouse, no doubt. And Alisair would never be trusted as a representative of Makira-Drong ever again.
If she left without spilling blood–somehow–word would spread regardless. Killing every living soul in the building–somehow–would also be pointless. Alisair suddenly felt trapped. Regal’s infuriating smile indicated that he knew exactly what he’d done. By having his guards threaten to kill Alisair, he’d put her in a position where she was forced to act recklessly. Either escape, and make a coward out of her comhouse, or do what she had done–and kill three ‘innocent’ guards.
A catch-22 of sorts, she thought to herself. Despite her ramping frustration, she felt a bit of begrudging respect for her opponent.
“Perhaps we should return to our conversation about faith.” Regal said.
Alisair understood that Regal meant to buy himself time. He was giving her a way out. Or maybe he was clinging on to the last vestige of his power. Maybe he took some joy in in exacting a form of dominance over her, his superior in all but age and reputation.
She cleared her throat silently. “Provided you keep this incident under the rug, Comhouse Makira-Drong could be persuaded to renew its contracts with Comhouse Regal.”
Regal stroked his beard and nodded. “And what of the additional security requested to fend off the pirates?”
“In exchange for full ownership of five water farms, security can be enhanced for the remainders.”
“Two farms.”
“Four.”
Regal squinted. “Very well. Alisair Makira-Drong drives a difficult bargain. But I am satisfied with the new arrangement.”
Alisair nodded, and tapped on her temple. A screen, invisible to all but her, appeared in her vision, full of documents. She selected one, sorted into Regal’s category, using her mindmetal, and tapped on her temple again, closing it. “I renewed the contract right now. Sign it on your end. I’ll be on my way.”
As Regal accessed his chip, Alisair walked away, traversing the spotless white halls of the office. She fantasized about destroying it, just to spite Regal. Keep him alive long enough for him to watch his delicate, crumbling business annihilated for good. Unfortunately, it was just that–a fantasy.
What wasn’t a fantasy was the vibration Alisair felt in her temple. The mindmetal had a message for her. From her mother, actually, based on the frequency. She tapped her temple as she walked through the white halls, occasionally passing a blank-eyed employee in black Regal garb.
Mother, she thought. I’ve just left the meeting.
And? Makira’s voice echoed through her head.
It did not go as planned.
Elaborate.
His guards drew on me. So I neutralized them.
She heard disappointment in her mother’s tone. What happened next?
I agreed to let him maintain ownership of his shares in exchange for his silence. And I agreed to boost security in exchange for ownership of four of his water farms.
Silence for a few seconds, then: We’ll discuss this when you return to the Comet, daughter. Make a jump as soon as you can. Something has come up.
The pressure in Alisair’s head faded, and she left to go find her vessel.