He was right. Such a discussion could only be held at imposing places, such as that ancient and luxurious conference table in the middle of the room.
The guests all sat down at the large table, Jameson sitting at the head of the table, pointing to the end of the room, while Enzo du Sable took seat at the end of the table, pointing at the entrance. Nearly every seat was taken, and now the ambience was that of a real conference....
Dominiq and his Two sons sat down near One of the other guests at the impressive table. the wealth just shined off from every inch off it. Dominiq had a quick look at the others around the table to see if they had a clue as to what exactly was about to happen but the Gallians had a peculiar way of hiding what they knew, IF they knew anything so far that is. dissapointed by his own abilities to read people's faces he diverted his attention towards the Administrator
A Psalm out of the outcast history books.
The dons are our shepherds; I shall not want. They make us live with a cause; They lead us trough the still vasts of space. They restore our souls; They lead us in the paths of righteousness For The Orange Dream. Yai, though we fly through the valley of the shadow of death, we will fear no evil; For the Spirits are with us; Your leadership and Your cardamine, they comfort us. You prepare a safe home for us in the presence of our enemies; Surely goodness and mercy shall follow us All the days of our life; And we will dwell in the house of the outcasts Forever
Alexander noticed A woman still sitting down on the sofa. "Exuse me father" he said and than stood up and walked towards the woman. Senorita, will you join us at the table? *he took her hand and kissed it* i would be honoured if you'd sit with me and my family.
A Psalm out of the outcast history books.
The dons are our shepherds; I shall not want. They make us live with a cause; They lead us trough the still vasts of space. They restore our souls; They lead us in the paths of righteousness For The Orange Dream. Yai, though we fly through the valley of the shadow of death, we will fear no evil; For the Spirits are with us; Your leadership and Your cardamine, they comfort us. You prepare a safe home for us in the presence of our enemies; Surely goodness and mercy shall follow us All the days of our life; And we will dwell in the house of the outcasts Forever
[color=#FFFFFF]Samantha took her seat next to Enzo, she had a sip from her whiskey and
being irritated because of the reasonless delay she said
I assume you didn't gather us here to stand around and look pretty Administrator, fashion shows have never
been a strong point of our Nation. So can we begin?
- "Ah yes, I suppose that... I should introduce myself."
He straightened his posture and spoke in a loud, authoritarian voice...
- "My name is Vincent Mergotti of the Maltese treasury. I am here, like you, to speak of matters concerning Gallia, and how much profit can be gleaned from its debased, royal, citizens."
Other servants began to remove their masks and sit down at the vast table, some of which also carried the same authoritarian posture and downright arrogant glean in their mutated eyes.
Mergotti grinned slightly and began explaining the situation...
- "The administrator is with us, as are some rather prominent senators... dons... political figures and some figures from our military. Gallia is a complex matter, and as such a lot of detail needs to be poured into this plan of ours, unless the purpose of this meeting is to plan for an eventual failure, that is to say."
One of the... fatter.. gentlemen in the room rose from his seat and began to speak.
- "Failure?! I'm risking a lot of my stock on these Gallic! They better not have any doubts about this!"
Another man, who is wearing the toga of a Maltese senator as well as an aged appearance and a seemingly "wise" face rose from his comfortable seat and addressed the fat gentleman.
- "Please, don. Give these humans a little credit. Based on the information the administrator has given us we can, with little doubt, say that they are capable of meeting our steep demands... and possibly even surpass them."
The fat don seemed to calm, and once more sat down in his chair... the senator soon followed, leaving the floor open for the guests to ask any questions which they might have.
Dominiq stood up and took the word after first clearing his throat
I share the same concerns as the Don. There's alot of precious cardamine at risc here gentlemen, if we are to proceed with this plan than we have to be absolutely sure the dangers have been lowerd to the bare minimum.
He adresses the Legionaires
In the event that we are able to reach an agreement over prices, who would provide the escorts for the transports, wouldnt the minefields be to heavily guarded?, and what base should the cardamine be deliverd too?
I have no doubt about your skills and bravery on the field of battle gentlemen. I do however doubt your mercantile spirit. I would like my mind at ease before taking these riscs for the family's business.
Dominiq sat down again and orderd another drink
A Psalm out of the outcast history books.
The dons are our shepherds; I shall not want. They make us live with a cause; They lead us trough the still vasts of space. They restore our souls; They lead us in the paths of righteousness For The Orange Dream. Yai, though we fly through the valley of the shadow of death, we will fear no evil; For the Spirits are with us; Your leadership and Your cardamine, they comfort us. You prepare a safe home for us in the presence of our enemies; Surely goodness and mercy shall follow us All the days of our life; And we will dwell in the house of the outcasts Forever
The old senator, sitting on the chair, kept to himself, knowing that the question of De Castillo was an important one, enough to start to quench the thirst of security for the dons that have invested in this deal.
"Now it's time to observe the Gallics and their responses. A politician never says anything without knowing his oponents in the debate, afterall."
Senator Dos Santos was an old fox that already knew well the tricks and flow of such dealings, so he bid his time as the table awaited an answer.
[color=#FFFFFF]Samantha, promptly downed a full glass of whiskey and slammed it on the table in a hidden yet awfully obvious way that she wanted to draw attention to herself.
"As the senor stated there is indeed a need for protection and I can provide that protection. As I am the
administrator of Kirkwall and also the CO of the 13th you might have guessed that most of my resources
are stationed in Orkney and Tau-23. So, I might provide the necessary escorts. To support this I am sure
that Enzo here and Vulpe of the Legion already know about our unofficial agreement that no shots are to be
fired between the 13th and the Legion so I recon I we can rely on their professional fighters to deal with any
threads beyond your jurisdiction namely the areas lying beyond the Orkney system."
Samantha poured another glass of whiskey
"Lets be straight, my pilots are devoted to the nation but Gallia is not really part of it'¦so I'll offer
payments from my personal fund for every successful escort and every possible threat destroyed. As you
might know there is the growing problem of the Colonials gaining strength in the sector, so I might need a
bit of support. We might surpass the Colonials skill-wise but sadly our numbers are nowhere near as strong
so I might need call upon help from the Unión de Corse in order to provide diversions and pre-emptive
strikes. Also as I believe many would agree I suggest that the Administrator signs a contract that no
attempts to grow Cardamine on your worlds will be made. My reasons being first of all, it will not grow as
there are over 60 planets known, none of the support Cardamine growth, second we wish to remain the
exclusive producers of the substance as it is vital to our lives."
Enzo did not expect so many of them. He also did not see the need for such disguises, but it did not bother him.
Bien, messieurs. I see you have a lot of questions, naturally... He leaned back to get in a better position.
You see, Gallia is an enourmous piece of space. Forget everything you know about les Sirian houses. Gallia is as powerful as all of them combined, both militarily as economically.
What you have here is a market of an enourmous size and wealth, so enourmous as whole Sirius combined. For centuries the Gallic Brigands have dominated this market, now reaching to over ninety percent in possession of les Brigands. Your worries are, of course, understandable....who wouldn't be worried? But you can be relieved - we have over 700 years of experience in this business and our influence all over Gallia and beyond speaks for itself.
He took a sip of his drink, while every person was only watching and listening to him...
Alors, now comes the question of administration. I want to be honest with you, mes amis. The role the Brigands will play in this game will be the role of transporters. This is the only way to keep this business alive, and profitable for both of us. Le Cardamine will be infused into the great mass that remains. This great mass is again, much greater than you would expect, considering the size and population of Gallia.
This should cover all the questions the Dons have till now. Enzo saw the looks in their faces, and leaned back, awaiting any other remarks.
Mergotti slowly took to his feet, anticipating the obvious.
Besides, why leave the Gallic representatives complacent?
"We can understand, of course, the scope of possibilities here," he said, beginning with a lighter tone, "After all, the potential for such an untapped market is undeniable..."
He looked square at du Sable, his gaze unflinching.
"That being said, it is the ideal, but hardly the primary concern. You see, we have no doubt of your... prowess... at moving about within Gallia. But the transportation, storage, and dissemination of a single commodity, our commodity, on a large scale seems to be something that you have no prior experience in. That leaves many of our friends here wondering. Worrying."
He looked at several of the Dons across the table and raised an eyebrow.
"While your transportation would be preferable, my Gallic friends, I am certain that several of our more experienced compatriots would be very interested in your methods. Perhaps they would like to share more?"
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