History of the Galaxy II

[capnq]

The music was blaring, the BLARG was flowing, and CEO Davdi was feeling the most relaxed he'd been in more than two weeks. Chairman Farki had invited the rest of the Board of Directors, plus the top management of the Conglomerate, to a party in celebration of the board's authorization of the fiscal 2405 budget. The festivities were a much needed respite after the prolonged debate over the military R&D expenditures. Dadvi was quite relieved that Malwi had declined the Chairman's invitation, but couldn't seem to escape the gossip about the only member of the board not in attendance.

"Malwi's choice to lead the Tyrean trade delegation was a bit of a surprise, wasn't it?" Retla Gurse asked him.

"Not in hindsight," Davdi replied, "Selya has the best interpersonal skills of any of the corporate Vice Presidents. She's the perfect person to negotiate with our first alien race."

"Yes, she certainly is good with people. She'd have to be, to stay on speaking terms with Malwi," Gurse laughed. "It's too bad that she had to leave for Mamor before the budget was finalized. She's missing a great party."

Davdi had to smile at Gurse's remark, and not just because of the poke at Malwi. Besides being the Conglomerate's Vice President of Eifral Resources, Selya Penlo was one of Gurse's ex-lovers. Davdi was glad to see that Gurse could talk about her in complimentary terms again; the couple had had an unusually acrimonious breakup several years ago, and Davdi considered it an accomplishment to have stayed friends with both of them afterwards.

"The party really ought to be in your honor, Retla. I can't thank you enough for the idea that broke the budget deadlock."

"I can't take all the credit. It was Doctor Dorsi's description of the Pirku Group's role in the Corporate Wars that made me realize that we could turn a profit on the carriers and fighters by selling them to the Tyreans."

"I almost hope they won't need them. They say we're the third starfaring race they've encountered, and their diplomatic Messages keep raising concerns about one of the others. They're quite insistent that they need to consult our 'defense minister', and seem to have trouble grasping the fact that we don't have one."

"Maybe you should let them talk to Node-25," Gurse commented, "it's got more expertise on that than any of us do."

"That's another brilliant idea! They're already quite comfortable interacting with artificial intelligences; AIs are even considered citizens in the Federation. Keep thinking like that, and you could be the next CEO."

"Ugh, no thanks. I'd rather stay at my design table than have to deal with the board that often. Which reminds me, we're going to need to rework the carrier design a bit."

"Why? Has a problem come up?"

"Node-25 ran some simulations with the current designs. The fighters' performance is almost too impressive; if any of the enemy fighters get past the defenders, the carrier's main gun simply can't hit them. Node-25 says we need some of the rapid-firing weapons it calls 'active defense systems', but I don't know how long R&D will need to reverse-engineer them from Node-25's database."

"Will that hold up prototyping the carrier?"

"I don't think so; we can start building with the current design, and refit it after we figure out how to make the things Node-25 wants. Finding pilots for the fighters is likely to cause more of a delay."

"Don't remind me; I'd rather not think about that tonight. And here comes a welcome distraction."

Davdi had spotted Sanre Dorsi crossing the room towards them. The historian cut a rather striking figure, wearing a fluorescent orange and yellow-green print that set off her complexion nicely. Even better, she was carrying three mugs of BLARG.

"You two looked like you needed refills," Dorsi smiled.

"Quite perceptive of you," Davdi grinned. "Retla was just telling me that you inspired the idea that made this party possible."

"I did? How on Eifra did I do that?"

"You're the one who told me about the Pirku Group," Gurse explained, "when we were trying to figure out how to build weapons to arm the space force with. If Pirku could supply guns to almost all sides' security forces throughout most of the Corporate Wars, we can probably make money selling armaments, too."

"Maybe that's why the Chairman invited me tonight. A hydroponic farm girl doesn't get many chances to hobnob with the elite."

"Sinta still has an eye for a pretty face, too," Davdi winked. "I'd be surprised if that had nothing to do with it."

Dorsi giggled and blushed an even deeper red. "I'll bet you say that to all the media consultants."

"No, he only says that to the female media consultants," Gurse laughed. "I'm going to grab something from the buffet for this BLARG to wash down; do either of you want anything?"

"The BLARG is enough for me right now," Davdi said, taking a sip, "but I recommend you try the alepi-stuffed itegas; they're spicy enough to ignite your breath."

"I'd like some more of those," Dorsi added, "the alepi paste is spiked with just the right amount of apiro. Even better than my mother's recipe."

"One bowl of itegas coming up. Don't wander off where I can't find you, or I'll have to eat them all myself."

[ November 30, 2002, 01:35: Message edited by: capnq ]