* My many thanks got to Joe MacDonald for much of the background on The Cartel, it was his brainchild 20 years ago, and it seemed like a shame for it to go to waste. *
"It looks as though I was worried for nothing, Gandu. Offers are still coming in." Said Cameron, as they sat in his private office on the Jester watching the bids roll in; his ship having safely returned through the Vulcanfall-Minotaur locus only four days ago, transmitting the limited details of their discovery of a derelict colony ship to the Space Enforcement Agency.
The Agency was a system wide organization whose duties included local offplanet law enforcement, and inspections for compliance with Alliance and UniSys regulations in space. They were generally considered to be one of the most trustworthy organizations with which to file a salvage claim, and they maintained it with considerable effort. They tended to give salvage operators the best possible assessments it could, and its personnel did their jobs without a hand under the table, reaching for graft; some places, like Jefferson, for instance, would stiff you at every turn, and charge you for the inconvenience, all the while giving preference to anyone who was willing to pay for the privilege. As a result, virtually all legitimate salvage operators working in Alliance territory, both private and corporate, used the Agency to file their claims.
"No offers from Resodyne, though; I thought they would be first in line. After all, we published the registry number along with the high resolution rendering of the ship's exterior. Someone has to know about its omission from ARA Corporation's records by now, and the fact that they have been silent worries me." Gandu commented pensively rotating his tumbler of Scotch whisky back and forth between large, spatulate fingers.
"It's been less than a dozen hours since the SEA's Salvage Title Adjudication Board allowed us to put our find up for bids; maybe they were slow getting out of bed this morning, or they just don't understand what we've found. Either way, when they get in touch - and they almost certainly will - the higher the standing offer at the time, the more they'll have to pay to get it." Cameron pontificated, with a smirk of triumph.
Gandu took a contemplative sip of the smoky, amber liquid before speaking again.
"I am, admittedly, probably worried about nothing, but SEA-STAB probably has at least one person within its ranks who sells information to the Multisolars." The XO countered, once again playing the devil's advocate.
The Captain of the Jester considered what he had just heard for all of two seconds, and said, "Maybe, but probably only to the Cartel", grinning maniacally.
Cameron would have been the first person to admit that having to pick between the highest bid on the salvage title, and any bid made by the Cartel, would be a decision fraught with uncertainty at best, but chances were that the Cartel's bid would likely be made by one of their proxies, and no one would be the wiser.
Well, no one who wasn't as thick as lard, like grandma used to say. Cameron thought.
Gandu was less than appreciative of his Captain's attempt at humor.
"Thank you, I hadn't actually thought of that." He said, in a dry tone which suggested he would have much preferred not to have heard his Captain's attempt at humor.
"Sorry, XO, I know it's not funny, but you know as well as I do there's a good chance that their factors and proxies are already bidding as we sit here." He explained, somewhat unnecessarily.
Like most people who'd had any dealings with a Multisolar corporation, Cameron was aware of the Cartel as a pervasive element of the Known Sphere's political and economic climate. They had a reach that extended well beyond Sol and the Humanist Interstellar Alliance, into the Free Systems League, and the other Independent Systems; their influence extended right up to the edge of the Darkaellan Imperium, where it more or less stopped.
The Cartel had evolved from a loose conglomeration of Earth-based multinationals into the first true Multisolar. Over the course of a generation, they had embedded themselves into virtually every major company in the Sol system, and a majority of those in the Alliance, which had been an early benefactor of the Cartel's desire for greater autonomy. Their only objective, as Cameron saw it, was power; their pursuit of that gave them access to the capital and economic resources to support their agenda, whatever that might be. If, however, the Cartel discovered an impediment to its goals, then it was generally considered to be a good idea to stay home, if possible.
There had been rumors circulating for decades, about people who had gotten on the wrong side of the Cartel in a bad way, and the rumors had a certain consistency; someone finds themselves on the Cartel's radar, and they suddenly disappear, die, or end up taking an unscheduled vacation very far away. There's never any evidence, and no one will testify to anything, either on or off the record.
To say that those who knew of - or just suspected - the Cartel's existence feared its attentions would be a massive understatement, but the vast majority of people had no clue that such an organization existed, and that suited the Cartel just fine. Anonymity made it virtually impossible to target the leadership legally, to say nothing of how it frustrated occasional attempts made by some very brave, determined, and incredibly stupid journalists, who clearly had more ambition than good sense, to try and expose Cartel malfeasance in the Known Sphere.
Yet, for all of that, exposure was something - perhaps the only thing - that it seemed to fear. It was obvious that the leadership went to great lengths to hide their identities, and keep their activities from being publicized, which, to a number of people, meant that if you had incontrovertible evidence of something that would be impossible to ignore, then you had something to bargain with. The Cartel would negotiate when it mattered, but you'd be looking over your shoulder for the rest of your days. It was whispered to Cameron once that a particularly intrepid young reporter had really gotten the goods on the Cartel a couple of decades ago, and had used it as leverage to fastrack her career at InterStar Media Group, arguably the largest media company ever to exist, and now that woman sat at the head of the table in the executive boardroom, newest CEO of InterStar.
If he suspected that one of the bidders was working sub rosa for the Cartel, then there were worse things than feigning ignorance, and hoping that he was wrong. If, on the other hand, they decided to let him know that a third party bidder was acting as their agent, then he would have to try and work out the best deal possible, and pray he didn't push so hard that they pushed back.
"Captain, the fact that they are probably using a half a dozen proxies and third party buyers doesn't worry me, its the total silence of the one group that has the most to lose if word about what's on that ship was to be made public." Gandu said, reiterating his initial point regarding Resodyne's absolute silence. "They should have at least tried for an injunction against our claim by now, or something, and they're not doing a thing. Do you suppose that they plan to just use the fact that it wasn't listed as an asset as an excuse to let it go, then pretend to be shocked when it turns up?"
Cameron took a slow, pensive sip of his own drink and considered the question. On the one hand, there were some advantages to Resodyne doing just that, since they had no reason to believe that ARA Corporation had kept a mobile black R&D lab in a backwater system. They could quite easily shrug their shoulders and say: 'We are shocked, shocked I say, at the news that the company, which we purchased in good faith, was engaged in such terrible activities, but it has nothing to do with us.'
On the other hand, it was entirely possible that there was a boardroom catfight going on right now at Resodyne, and when the dust settled they would simply offer more money than anyone else would want to put up, or try to cut a long-term deal that amounted to the same, and he'd be set for life; with enough left over that the crew's bonuses would make them insanely happy.
"I can't say with any certainty that would be their plan, but it makes sense. Really, though, there's not a lot they can do to prevent the sale from going through; they never knew it existed, so what's the basis of their complaint? Any marginally competent lawyer would laugh himself sick before telling them to go home; as it stands, we can plead ignorance, and they can plead ignorance. Trust me, Gandu, we're covered, and we are gonna make out like bandits." He grinned like an urchin, and finished the remainder of his drink in a single swallow.
His executive officer still didn't seem convinced, but he sat back in his Captain's very comfortable sofa, and took another sip of his drink in order to marshal his thoughts.
"Shall I authorize shore leave for the crew? I'd say that they've earned some real vacation time for a change, but I would like to rotate them through a third at a time, and maybe give an extra day to the last rotation. As sort of a compensation for being last." Gandu asked him, moving on to more immediate, practical concerns.
"Yeah, go ahead; after six months aboard, and all we've been through, even Rollie is gonna want to get off the ship for a few days." Cameron answered, reflecting on the fact that even his bosun had been climbing the walls of late, Saints knew they all deserved some R&R.
He sincerely hoped they would have fun.
The Agency was a system wide organization whose duties included local offplanet law enforcement, and inspections for compliance with Alliance and UniSys regulations in space. They were generally considered to be one of the most trustworthy organizations with which to file a salvage claim, and they maintained it with considerable effort. They tended to give salvage operators the best possible assessments it could, and its personnel did their jobs without a hand under the table, reaching for graft; some places, like Jefferson, for instance, would stiff you at every turn, and charge you for the inconvenience, all the while giving preference to anyone who was willing to pay for the privilege. As a result, virtually all legitimate salvage operators working in Alliance territory, both private and corporate, used the Agency to file their claims.
"No offers from Resodyne, though; I thought they would be first in line. After all, we published the registry number along with the high resolution rendering of the ship's exterior. Someone has to know about its omission from ARA Corporation's records by now, and the fact that they have been silent worries me." Gandu commented pensively rotating his tumbler of Scotch whisky back and forth between large, spatulate fingers.
"It's been less than a dozen hours since the SEA's Salvage Title Adjudication Board allowed us to put our find up for bids; maybe they were slow getting out of bed this morning, or they just don't understand what we've found. Either way, when they get in touch - and they almost certainly will - the higher the standing offer at the time, the more they'll have to pay to get it." Cameron pontificated, with a smirk of triumph.
Gandu took a contemplative sip of the smoky, amber liquid before speaking again.
"I am, admittedly, probably worried about nothing, but SEA-STAB probably has at least one person within its ranks who sells information to the Multisolars." The XO countered, once again playing the devil's advocate.
The Captain of the Jester considered what he had just heard for all of two seconds, and said, "Maybe, but probably only to the Cartel", grinning maniacally.
Cameron would have been the first person to admit that having to pick between the highest bid on the salvage title, and any bid made by the Cartel, would be a decision fraught with uncertainty at best, but chances were that the Cartel's bid would likely be made by one of their proxies, and no one would be the wiser.
Well, no one who wasn't as thick as lard, like grandma used to say. Cameron thought.
Gandu was less than appreciative of his Captain's attempt at humor.
"Thank you, I hadn't actually thought of that." He said, in a dry tone which suggested he would have much preferred not to have heard his Captain's attempt at humor.
"Sorry, XO, I know it's not funny, but you know as well as I do there's a good chance that their factors and proxies are already bidding as we sit here." He explained, somewhat unnecessarily.
Like most people who'd had any dealings with a Multisolar corporation, Cameron was aware of the Cartel as a pervasive element of the Known Sphere's political and economic climate. They had a reach that extended well beyond Sol and the Humanist Interstellar Alliance, into the Free Systems League, and the other Independent Systems; their influence extended right up to the edge of the Darkaellan Imperium, where it more or less stopped.
The Cartel had evolved from a loose conglomeration of Earth-based multinationals into the first true Multisolar. Over the course of a generation, they had embedded themselves into virtually every major company in the Sol system, and a majority of those in the Alliance, which had been an early benefactor of the Cartel's desire for greater autonomy. Their only objective, as Cameron saw it, was power; their pursuit of that gave them access to the capital and economic resources to support their agenda, whatever that might be. If, however, the Cartel discovered an impediment to its goals, then it was generally considered to be a good idea to stay home, if possible.
There had been rumors circulating for decades, about people who had gotten on the wrong side of the Cartel in a bad way, and the rumors had a certain consistency; someone finds themselves on the Cartel's radar, and they suddenly disappear, die, or end up taking an unscheduled vacation very far away. There's never any evidence, and no one will testify to anything, either on or off the record.
To say that those who knew of - or just suspected - the Cartel's existence feared its attentions would be a massive understatement, but the vast majority of people had no clue that such an organization existed, and that suited the Cartel just fine. Anonymity made it virtually impossible to target the leadership legally, to say nothing of how it frustrated occasional attempts made by some very brave, determined, and incredibly stupid journalists, who clearly had more ambition than good sense, to try and expose Cartel malfeasance in the Known Sphere.
Yet, for all of that, exposure was something - perhaps the only thing - that it seemed to fear. It was obvious that the leadership went to great lengths to hide their identities, and keep their activities from being publicized, which, to a number of people, meant that if you had incontrovertible evidence of something that would be impossible to ignore, then you had something to bargain with. The Cartel would negotiate when it mattered, but you'd be looking over your shoulder for the rest of your days. It was whispered to Cameron once that a particularly intrepid young reporter had really gotten the goods on the Cartel a couple of decades ago, and had used it as leverage to fastrack her career at InterStar Media Group, arguably the largest media company ever to exist, and now that woman sat at the head of the table in the executive boardroom, newest CEO of InterStar.
If he suspected that one of the bidders was working sub rosa for the Cartel, then there were worse things than feigning ignorance, and hoping that he was wrong. If, on the other hand, they decided to let him know that a third party bidder was acting as their agent, then he would have to try and work out the best deal possible, and pray he didn't push so hard that they pushed back.
"Captain, the fact that they are probably using a half a dozen proxies and third party buyers doesn't worry me, its the total silence of the one group that has the most to lose if word about what's on that ship was to be made public." Gandu said, reiterating his initial point regarding Resodyne's absolute silence. "They should have at least tried for an injunction against our claim by now, or something, and they're not doing a thing. Do you suppose that they plan to just use the fact that it wasn't listed as an asset as an excuse to let it go, then pretend to be shocked when it turns up?"
Cameron took a slow, pensive sip of his own drink and considered the question. On the one hand, there were some advantages to Resodyne doing just that, since they had no reason to believe that ARA Corporation had kept a mobile black R&D lab in a backwater system. They could quite easily shrug their shoulders and say: 'We are shocked, shocked I say, at the news that the company, which we purchased in good faith, was engaged in such terrible activities, but it has nothing to do with us.'
On the other hand, it was entirely possible that there was a boardroom catfight going on right now at Resodyne, and when the dust settled they would simply offer more money than anyone else would want to put up, or try to cut a long-term deal that amounted to the same, and he'd be set for life; with enough left over that the crew's bonuses would make them insanely happy.
"I can't say with any certainty that would be their plan, but it makes sense. Really, though, there's not a lot they can do to prevent the sale from going through; they never knew it existed, so what's the basis of their complaint? Any marginally competent lawyer would laugh himself sick before telling them to go home; as it stands, we can plead ignorance, and they can plead ignorance. Trust me, Gandu, we're covered, and we are gonna make out like bandits." He grinned like an urchin, and finished the remainder of his drink in a single swallow.
His executive officer still didn't seem convinced, but he sat back in his Captain's very comfortable sofa, and took another sip of his drink in order to marshal his thoughts.
"Shall I authorize shore leave for the crew? I'd say that they've earned some real vacation time for a change, but I would like to rotate them through a third at a time, and maybe give an extra day to the last rotation. As sort of a compensation for being last." Gandu asked him, moving on to more immediate, practical concerns.
"Yeah, go ahead; after six months aboard, and all we've been through, even Rollie is gonna want to get off the ship for a few days." Cameron answered, reflecting on the fact that even his bosun had been climbing the walls of late, Saints knew they all deserved some R&R.
He sincerely hoped they would have fun.
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