Affari Esteri

[Reeves]

Perfect silence, only the softest clinking of ice from his glass as he took small sips, it was clear he was giving her his full attention and taking every word seriously. It also seemed like he'd not broken eye contact so far and that might have been an imposing fact to a weaker willed person. "No objections to your first point, I consider it perfectly logical and necessary for the business to function." A short pause ensued after he'd commented on this, the brain behind his eyes racing through a variety of factors and potential problems as he considered the second point. It was only a few seconds of torrential thought patterns before it seemed like the focus of his eyes came back to the room and her.

"Arrangements are being made for your end of line destination in Colorado, it'll have an extension constructed for the exact purpose of easily being able to moor quickly and offload product. Your people will have access to basic station facilities while there, whether that be to make a short rest stop, refuel or avail repairs. All these services will be offered with a nominal fee. At this juncture of business however, we are not prepared to extend these services to any vessels beyond those directly involved in the business. Your raiders will not be permitted to base themselves on our facilities and any warships seen on approach will be turned away. This can be revised in the future if Malta is willing to increase the volume of business we are allowed to handle and put assurances in place." It was a mixture of elaboration on the state of things, the willingness of his side and then the things they were outright unwilling to offer in terms of services. Stortas would not be allowed to line up like a collection of keychains at either the Fort or Ouray, this would simply be too much in the way of hospitality and all at once and that was hardly wise when it came to historical enemies.

When it came to the third point, his answer was preceded by a brisk nod. "I'm aware of the short-term losses this would entail, but it's the long-term gains motivating me to do it. That and the fact that my previous trade partner has hardly been loyal when it came to the terms of the arrangement, a betrayal of trust which I'm sure you can relate to given current circumstances. To conclude, I have no problems with these points save for the clarifications I have made on what the scope will be." And all at once, the smoothness of his tone stopped flowing in her direction and was instead replaced by a stiff silence. He had all the makings of somebody that could serve as a great orator, it was likely people found him genuinely pleasant to listen to when circumstances permitted for politeness.

There was a look of expectance in his eyes, inviting her to pose questions or clarify any doubts before they went further.