Renovations

[Coliz]

"I must admit, Mrs. Weingarten, that this dish makes me feel as though I've returned home. I imagine you must have studied at some local culinary school; otherwise, I am astounded that a Sirian could achieve such heights in Gallic cuisine without having worked with our chefs." Hector, now free from the tension that had accompanied him throughout the first part of the interview, found himself ravenous and devoid of adrenaline.

"In truth, Director, we stand on the shoulders of giants. The initial work was all Dumais's, before he left us. In his quarters, we found most of the sketches for the interiors and very detailed studies on the ship. So yes, we did spend many sleepless nights on it, but they would have been many more without the contributions of those who came before us. And," he said, raising his glass towards the couple, "you will, of course, have your tickets. In fact," he added with a smile, "you'll be the first to board!"

Luc spoke up: "I believe it is clear from the data we have provided that not everyone will be able to board this 'crown jewel,' as you have called it. In fact, we do not plan to have any cabins below first class. To make this venture profitable, we must target the super-tourists, truly wealthy individuals willing to spend at least double the price of a regular first-class ticket. There is no classism in my words; it is simply business economics. We need to market cruises on this ship as the experience of a lifetime, the ticket to buy after years of sacrifice. The more this ship has an aura of unbridled, unattainable luxury, the more people will be willing to board just to say, 'I made it, I'm on board.'"

"For this very reason, madame, we sought your counsel. As I mentioned earlier, we have found Dumais's sketches, and we liked them. Both our vision and his are to show you Sirians that Gallia is not just what you imagine and, sadly, know. It is a place inhabited by people capable of loving beauty, art, nature, with a rich history and an extensive, boundless cultural heritage. To better express all the facets of our House, we wanted to recreate the uniqueness of each inhabited planet in Gallia, a deck for each one, each different from the other, from the setting to the services offered down to the smallest detail. Now, which shipyard is capable of providing us with all the skills necessary to bring our projects to life?"

"Does it make sense to talk about the Gallic Union or not?" Luc interrupted.

"I was just getting to that," Hector replied, noting the couple's surprised expressions.
"So. It is merely an idea on which I still wanted your opinion. Given the symbolic purpose of the ship, the idea of proposing an economic and artistic partnership to the Gallic Union crossed our minds. Knowing that we have no economic restrictions at least partly removes the necessity to contact them. However, the fact remains that an endorsement from the Union could assist us both in the Gallic domestic market and in acquiring artistic material from collections or new artists to decorate the interiors. Obviously, this would mean having a third-party entity with a distinctly military stamp on board. They might help us, but at what cost? Would we be willing to have, say, Union agents on board? How would the clients react to that?"