he
was supposed to do according to whatever Navy manual he had shoved up his ass.
“No,” Monhsendary continued, “the most
important thing on this city is the port.”
“The port? Why? We’re at the edge of the
galaxy,” I said.
“Are we?” he asked.
“Uh…yeah. I mean, I’m not a cartographer, but
I’ve seen a map. We’re way out here. The only tele stations we get are beamed
months late. It’s hard to gamble on sports because half the teams are disbanded
by the time we place bets.”
“The port was built for much larger operations
than they are currently being used for,” he said, ignoring me.
“Well, that’s great. We’d love for Belvaille to
go back to being an exploration city. We have all kinds of entertainment and
could support a huge population.”
“This should be a Navy installation.”
“Alright,” I said, shrugging. “It doesn’t
matter what kind of ships dock, I guess. Everyone has to eat and drink and
relax, right?”
I don’t think Monhsendary was capable of
physically bending. He probably slept standing up, leaning against a wall. But
he almost imperceptibly inclined toward me.
“You all need to leave the city.”
Okay. So I knew what he wanted. This was, as
they say, the starting bid for negotiations. But what would my counteroffer be?
Half of us leave?
“Um. It’s a big city. And it’s really boring
here without us. I mean, it’s boring here with us, so I can’t imagine a
city with just Navy people. I think we can all share.”
“I am aware of what goes on in this city,” he
said, letting the words hang there.
“You are?”
“Yes,” he said. “Thievery and fornication!”
He dropped it like an anvil, like they were the
worst words in the Colmarian language, which had something like ten trillion
zillion words. Did he really not know Belvaille? He had been here for months
now.
“Um. Yes. I’ve heard that,” I said.
“Do you think the Navy requires such things?”
Man, if he was pissed about sex and thieves, I
hated to think what he’d do when he learned the city had slave prostitutes who
were illegally surgically-altered and under perpetual narcotic influence.
“No, probably not. But we also have restaurants
and hotels and clubs and all sorts of things.”
If we could get the Navy back in here, I don’t
think all that many people would care about turning their criminal operations
back to legitimate ones. Money was money—as long as they left us alone.
“Everyone needs to leave this station except
essential personnel, who are required to stay. Go tell your thieving
compatriots.”
I could tell by the way he said it that there
was no room for compromise and there was precious little room for me to get out
of here before he had a king-sized Knuckle Squad work me over.
I nodded and withdrew.
“He wants us all to leave?” Tamshius asked,
confused.
“Yeah. He seemed concerned that people have sex
on Belvaille. And rob each other. He was rather prudish for a sadist,
actually,” I said.
We were back at Sonidara’s office. Leeny was
here as well and he had asked that Tamshius come. I didn’t want to invite a ton
of bosses again. They could never agree on anything and half of them weren’t
even on speaking terms. The drama, not to mention the logistics, just became
difficult with so many prima donnas.
“So you didn’t manage to change his views at
all?” Leeny asked.
“I think this is his personality,
unfortunately. I can’t coerce him to change his opinion on…fornication.”
“On what?” Sonidara asked.
“Never mind.”
“Do you think he’d use nerve toxin on us?”
Tamshius asked.
I reflected a moment.
“It doesn’t strike me that he would. I don’t
know the guy well, obviously. And that’s something you want to be pretty sure
about. When the gas comes raining down, you don’t want to be like ‘woops, I
misjudged him.’”
“We could kill Delovoa. That would stop him
from getting any toxin,” Tamshius
was supposed to do according to whatever Navy manual he had shoved up his ass.
“No,” Monhsendary continued, “the most
important thing on this city is the port.”
“The port? Why? We’re at the edge of the
galaxy,” I said.
“Are we?” he asked.
“Uh…yeah. I mean, I’m not a cartographer, but
I’ve seen a map. We’re way out here. The only tele stations we get are beamed
months late. It’s hard to gamble on sports because half the teams are disbanded
by the time we place bets.”
“The port was built for much larger operations
than they are currently being used for,” he said, ignoring me.
“Well, that’s great. We’d love for Belvaille to
go back to being an exploration city. We have all kinds of entertainment and
could support a huge population.”
“This should be a Navy installation.”
“Alright,” I said, shrugging. “It doesn’t
matter what kind of ships dock, I guess. Everyone has to eat and drink and
relax, right?”
I don’t think Monhsendary was capable of
physically bending. He probably slept standing up, leaning against a wall. But
he almost imperceptibly inclined toward me.
“You all need to leave the city.”
Okay. So I knew what he wanted. This was, as
they say, the starting bid for negotiations. But what would my counteroffer be?
Half of us leave?
“Um. It’s a big city. And it’s really boring
here without us. I mean, it’s boring here with us, so I can’t imagine a
city with just Navy people. I think we can all share.”
“I am aware of what goes on in this city,” he
said, letting the words hang there.
“You are?”
“Yes,” he said. “Thievery and fornication!”
He dropped it like an anvil, like they were the
worst words in the Colmarian language, which had something like ten trillion
zillion words. Did he really not know Belvaille? He had been here for months
now.
“Um. Yes. I’ve heard that,” I said.
“Do you think the Navy requires such things?”
Man, if he was pissed about sex and thieves, I
hated to think what he’d do when he learned the city had slave prostitutes who
were illegally surgically-altered and under perpetual narcotic influence.
“No, probably not. But we also have restaurants
and hotels and clubs and all sorts of things.”
If we could get the Navy back in here, I don’t
think all that many people would care about turning their criminal operations
back to legitimate ones. Money was money—as long as they left us alone.
“Everyone needs to leave this station except
essential personnel, who are required to stay. Go tell your thieving
compatriots.”
I could tell by the way he said it that there
was no room for compromise and there was precious little room for me to get out
of here before he had a king-sized Knuckle Squad work me over.
I nodded and withdrew.
“He wants us all to leave?” Tamshius asked,
confused.
“Yeah. He seemed concerned that people have sex
on Belvaille. And rob each other. He was rather prudish for a sadist,
actually,” I said.
We were back at Sonidara’s office. Leeny was
here as well and he had asked that Tamshius come. I didn’t want to invite a ton
of bosses again. They could never agree on anything and half of them weren’t
even on speaking terms. The drama, not to mention the logistics, just became
difficult with so many prima donnas.
“So you didn’t manage to change his views at
all?” Leeny asked.
“I think this is his personality,
unfortunately. I can’t coerce him to change his opinion on…fornication.”
“On what?” Sonidara asked.
“Never mind.”
“Do you think he’d use nerve toxin on us?”
Tamshius asked.
I reflected a moment.
“It doesn’t strike me that he would. I don’t
know the guy well, obviously. And that’s something you want to be pretty sure
about. When the gas comes raining down, you don’t want to be like ‘woops, I
misjudged him.’”
“We could kill Delovoa. That would stop him
from getting any toxin,” Tamshius
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