extortionate.”
Lucius shrugged, “You will recieve more for your money.”
“We already paid them this month.”
“ Well, you can ask them for a refund,” Lucius said with a slight smile.
She sighed, “What do you know about the politics of Faraday?”
Lucius smiled slightly, “Until we got to this system, I didn’t know Faraday existed .”
“ We have a three party parliamentary system here, Captain. The Liberals, the Moderates, and the Conservatives. I’m a Liberal.” She shrugged, “The Liberals want change here on Faraday.”
“ Change can be bad or good,” Lucius said, uncertain where this conversation led.
The Contractor snorted at his neutral answer, “Right now, you might consider yourself an immigrant. Do you think you might want to become a citizen?”
Lucius shrugged, “It’s not inconceivable.”
“ Under the Contract, under the law, it is,” the Contractor’s voice was flat. “Immigrants are not citizens. Citizenship on Faraday requires being born on world, to at least one Faraday citizen.” She shook her head, “On top of that, if you don’t have citizenship, you have no legal rights. You can’t be represented in court, you can’t press charges for a crime, you have no rights. We have tens of thousands of refugees here, you may have seen the boneyard near the spaceport. They've no rights to speak of and Faraday's wealthy extort them for labor.”
Lucius raised his eyebrows, “That’s… interesting.”
“It’s barbaric,” the Contractor snapped. “It’s unacceptable. Right now, my party is trying to change that, and we’ve got a number of Moderates on our governing council, the Shareholders, leaning our way. We've had power for only five years, and the Conservatives have fought ever move we've made tooth and nail. They'd still have power if not for an incident we had here five years ago that exposed some of their more severe corruption. That’s how I came to be the Contractor.”
“ I’m seeing implications with this I’m not liking,” Lucius admitted.
“ You should. The Liberals also believe in a stronger military and increased foreign policy. In short, we believe that Faraday cannot stay on the fringe, alone and without allies for long.”
“ And the Conservatives?”
“ They like the status quo,” the Contractor grimaced, “I would call some of their factories slavery, but at least a master cares for his slaves somewhat. The Conservatives control much of the industry, and they view the refugee populace as a resource to be used.”
“ I see.” Lucius frowned, “So not only will I be representing something they won’t like, that being a strong foreigner, but I’ll also have to purchase things from them?”
“ Yes.”
“ Well, thank you for the warning.”
“ You still wish to tie your future to Faraday?” The Contractor looked surprised.
“ Madam, I’ve seen worse systems. Frankly, some of Nova Roma’s frontier worlds were… worse in a way. And if my presence causes the corrupt here discomfort, maybe even a loss of political power…” Lucius grinned, “So much the better.”
“ Well…” She cocked her head in surprise, “In that case,” She rose offering her hand, “I’m Kate Bueller, and I have to ask… are you that Lucius Giovanni?”
***
“ So, Captain, is this payment satisfactory?”
Lucius looked up from the paper at the monitor, “Most satisfactory. There remains only one other thing I’d like to ask. As you have no doubt read, both my ships are low on crew. I wonder if you would allow me to send out recruiters.”
The Contractor’s face grew cold. “There will be no drafting of our populace.”
Lucius shook his head. “We’d like to sign up some of your people voluntarily. We will sign them up only for the length of the contract and any who stay aboard longer than that will be purely voluntary as well.”
The Contractor nodded. “Faraday was
Lucius shrugged, “You will recieve more for your money.”
“We already paid them this month.”
“ Well, you can ask them for a refund,” Lucius said with a slight smile.
She sighed, “What do you know about the politics of Faraday?”
Lucius smiled slightly, “Until we got to this system, I didn’t know Faraday existed .”
“ We have a three party parliamentary system here, Captain. The Liberals, the Moderates, and the Conservatives. I’m a Liberal.” She shrugged, “The Liberals want change here on Faraday.”
“ Change can be bad or good,” Lucius said, uncertain where this conversation led.
The Contractor snorted at his neutral answer, “Right now, you might consider yourself an immigrant. Do you think you might want to become a citizen?”
Lucius shrugged, “It’s not inconceivable.”
“ Under the Contract, under the law, it is,” the Contractor’s voice was flat. “Immigrants are not citizens. Citizenship on Faraday requires being born on world, to at least one Faraday citizen.” She shook her head, “On top of that, if you don’t have citizenship, you have no legal rights. You can’t be represented in court, you can’t press charges for a crime, you have no rights. We have tens of thousands of refugees here, you may have seen the boneyard near the spaceport. They've no rights to speak of and Faraday's wealthy extort them for labor.”
Lucius raised his eyebrows, “That’s… interesting.”
“It’s barbaric,” the Contractor snapped. “It’s unacceptable. Right now, my party is trying to change that, and we’ve got a number of Moderates on our governing council, the Shareholders, leaning our way. We've had power for only five years, and the Conservatives have fought ever move we've made tooth and nail. They'd still have power if not for an incident we had here five years ago that exposed some of their more severe corruption. That’s how I came to be the Contractor.”
“ I’m seeing implications with this I’m not liking,” Lucius admitted.
“ You should. The Liberals also believe in a stronger military and increased foreign policy. In short, we believe that Faraday cannot stay on the fringe, alone and without allies for long.”
“ And the Conservatives?”
“ They like the status quo,” the Contractor grimaced, “I would call some of their factories slavery, but at least a master cares for his slaves somewhat. The Conservatives control much of the industry, and they view the refugee populace as a resource to be used.”
“ I see.” Lucius frowned, “So not only will I be representing something they won’t like, that being a strong foreigner, but I’ll also have to purchase things from them?”
“ Yes.”
“ Well, thank you for the warning.”
“ You still wish to tie your future to Faraday?” The Contractor looked surprised.
“ Madam, I’ve seen worse systems. Frankly, some of Nova Roma’s frontier worlds were… worse in a way. And if my presence causes the corrupt here discomfort, maybe even a loss of political power…” Lucius grinned, “So much the better.”
“ Well…” She cocked her head in surprise, “In that case,” She rose offering her hand, “I’m Kate Bueller, and I have to ask… are you that Lucius Giovanni?”
***
“ So, Captain, is this payment satisfactory?”
Lucius looked up from the paper at the monitor, “Most satisfactory. There remains only one other thing I’d like to ask. As you have no doubt read, both my ships are low on crew. I wonder if you would allow me to send out recruiters.”
The Contractor’s face grew cold. “There will be no drafting of our populace.”
Lucius shook his head. “We’d like to sign up some of your people voluntarily. We will sign them up only for the length of the contract and any who stay aboard longer than that will be purely voluntary as well.”
The Contractor nodded. “Faraday was
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