Financial Freedom Chapter 4: Plutocrat

FINANCIAL FREEDOM
A Tech Infantry Novella
by
Edward Stasheff & Marcus Johnston
Copyright © 2011

Chapter 4: Plutocrat

Heth preened himself—fluffing his mane, brushing down his fur, straightening all his jewelry, running his tongue over his fangs—while he waited for the Llan Executive Officer, or LEO, of Miao Mercantile to answer the video call.

"Gainful day, Miao K'Nhur K'Yawr!" Heth cowered politely.

"Miao K'Rowr K'Heth," the old feline said as he sat and looked at the holoproj display. Yawr was a big cat, grown plump with age and wealth. His black fur had faded to dark gray. He wore a spectacularly expensive suit, and his mane was woven with golden strips into long, tiny braids—but that was his only jewelry. It sent a subtle message to other K'Nes: this was a man so fantastically rich that he simply couldn't wear one percent of his net worth in decorative hard currency—he'd be crushed under the weight. He scowled into the camera. "If you're not about to make me a lot of money," he growled, pointing a claw at Heth, "I'm going to terminate you just for having the audacity to call me—directly!"

"Oh yes, sire—lots of money," Heth assured the executive. "I have highly valuable information for you, sire. News that could affect markets on a galactic scale. If the Miao move fast to position ourselves, profits could be vast."

Yawr narrowed his eyes for a moment. "Alright, cub, you've raised my interest," he admitted, settling down on his designer perch. "Tell me your valuable news—and it had better be good!"

"It is, sire." Heth smiled. "The Jurvain are going to invade."

The LEO looked at him blankly for a moment. "What? The Jurvain? Invade who? When? Where? Why? How do you know all this?"

Heth explained his deal with the Jurvain military, offering them as much Impossibarium as they could buy to defend themselves—only they appeared to be using it for an offensive force instead. Yawr silent stared at Heth with narrowed eyes for a moment, stroking his mane. "You mean to tell me," the LEO said slowly, voice dripping with menace, "that you just armed the Jurvain with powerful new weapons… without obtaining permission from the company first?"

Heth had anticipated this reaction, and had his response prepared. "MIRADI armed the Jurvain," he clarified, raising a claw. "I merely facilitated the transaction. Remember, after my merger with Miu was dissolved, MIRADI spun off back into an independent company, one we have no control over. This Jurvain deal would have gone through anyway, sire—if I hadn't been the middlemerchant, someone else would have." Well, that's not exactly true, Heth thought, but Yawr doesn't need to know the details. "This way, at least," Heth continued, "Miao Mercantile is privy to insider information before the news hits the market—and a ten percent commission on an expensive and ongoing sale, I might add."

Heth waited breathlessly his LEO's reaction. After a moment's silence, the old cat slowly began to nod. "Alright… alright, you raise some good points. But next time!" He pointed a vicious claw at Heth. "You keep the company informed from the start. Understood, cub?"

"Yes, sire!" Heth cowered politely and nodded.

"Now then," Yawr continued, relaxing a bit on his padded perch, "what makes you think the Jurvain plan to invade anyone?"

Heth explained the specifications for the Jurvain Impossibarium order, and about how they appeared to be investing it in weapons and fighters rather than defensive armor.

"Hmm…" Yawr rubbed a paw behind his ear thoughtfully. "Well, it's hardly conclusive evidence. Fighter fleets are not necessarily offensive—they could be used for defense. And quite well, I imagine."

"Yes, the Jurvain would have a fleet that could serve both purposes, true," Heth conceded, "but they're planning to fight someone—and they lied to me about who."

"Eh?" Yawr looked up. "Why do you say that?"

"Because when I asked Vice Admiral Tsonguo who the Jurvain had to fight, he paused before answering 'The Bugs,' sire," Heth explained. "That's their tell, you see. When a Jurvain answers honestly, their response is immediate. But when they don't tell the truth, they always pause for a second to check with the Commonality—telepathically, of course—to determine the best lie."

Yawr widened one eye. "Very perceptive, Heth. So, a Jurvain offensive is a possibility—and one that we know about before anyone else. But it will take the Jurvain weeks to upgrade their fighters with Impossibarium—"

"Oh, two months at least, sire," Heth added.

The LEO waved away the interruption. "When the news breaks, it'll cause quite a bit of excitement in the commodity exchanges… fear sells, cub. Sells like nothing else. And by then…" Yawr bared his fangs in a grin, "the Miao will have had ample opportunity to position ourselves strategically in the marketplace… yes, perhaps we should hedge our bets… diversify our investments… maybe the Jurvain would be interested in the new line of Miao gravity drives we're planning…"

Yawr's voice trailed off, and Heth saw the LEO's eyes lose focus as he concentrated, crunching numbers and weighing odds. Heth could practically see the spreadsheets flying past the old cat's eyes.

"Uh… sire?" Heth hated to interrupt, but he had to ask the question that worried him the most. "What… what if the Jurvain invade the K'Nes Llan?"

"Hmm?" Yawr asked, roused from his monetary daydream. "Oh, I doubt that. The Jurvain would much rather take back their lost colonies from the humans. And the K'Nes have been the Jurvain's traditional allies against the apes since… well, forever. There's never been violence between K'Nes and Jurvain … well, except for that unfortunate incident at Shu, of course… and we've always been their natural allies. Why would they attack us?"

"Because we are rich, sire," Heth answered. "The Jurvain economy was decimated by years of human quarantine… and the Federation, in turn, was ripped apart by the Caal. But the K'Nes escaped that destruction—we weren't in the Caal's path—and once we rid ourselves of those accursed Five Acts, our economy boomed. Our infrastructure is intact and our industries are producing at near-full capacity. Why would the Jurvain pay for what they could take by force?"

Yawr growled, and Heth knew he'd succeeded in rubbing the LEO exactly the wrong way—nothing raised K'Nes hackles quite like the thought of having their assets stolen. "Mmm…. another good point," Yawr conceded. "One at least worth considering."

"Sire…" Heth swallowed, his tail swishing nervously. "Should the K'Nes Llan consider investing in, uh… security? Just in case the Jurvain do invade? Our fleet has little more than… well, cargo freighters."

"That's all we were allowed to have under the human occupation," Yawr growled. "The apes scuttled the entire K'Nes Tor Navy after our defeat the Second Vulthra War."

"Exactly," Heth agreed, "and now, there's only one actual warship in all of K'Nes space!"

"The Loophole, I know!" Yawr rolled his eyes, exasperated. "It's Gurrmew K'Laek K'Soth's personal property—and he never shuts up about it, the swaggering rodent!" The LEO's eyes narrowed to slits. "Lording it over us, using it for leverage to extort more favorable contracts out of the other trading houses… K'Nes Hero, my tail!"

It was a mistake bringing up Gurrmew K'Soth, even indirectly. Heth had to derail Yawr's train of thought quickly, before the old cat launched into yet another full-blown rant about the Miao's political enemies. "I couldn't agree more, sire." Heth grinned, baring his fangs. "But if the K'Nes Llan invested in a few modern warships, Soth would lose his negotiating advantage!... oh, and it would protect us from the Jurvain and apes too, of course." He hesitated. "Couldn't you propose to the Boa—"

"I'm afraid you overestimate my position in the K'Nes Llan, cub." Yawr's fur bristled. "That treacherous rat Soth stabbed the Miao in the tail—and after all we did for them during the Occupation! Gurrmew & Yeomurt LLP beat us out for the last seat on the Executive Board, remember?" Being shut out of the executive boardroom of the K'Nes Llan was still a sore point for Yawr... and all Miao, for that matter, including Heth.

"Of course I remember, sire… how could I forget?" Heth's mind raced to find a way around his awkward gaff and drag the conversation back on topic. He went with flattery. "But you're still the most powerful member of the lower house, sire—the Chair of the Board of Directors! Your stock is rising, and the other corporate clans on the Board value your opinions. Couldn't you at least suggest—"

"It'd be waste of my time and theirs, cub." The LEO shook his head. "Convincing the K'Nes Llan to invest resources in warships would be a very, very hard sell. Low return on investment. Little profit, if any. No, they're relying on trade and diplomacy to avoid war with the Jurvain—or anyone else, for that matter."

"I see, sire." Heth tried a different approach. "Well, what about our defenses, then? Should the Miao… I mean, the Nhur Llan… prepare for a Jurvain invasion?"

"Eh? Why?" Yawr said. "If the Jurvain attack, the first system they'll invade will be Urrin, not Nhur."

"True," Heth agreed. And that's where Miu and MIRADI are, he thought. Aloud he said, "But to conquer the K'Nes Llan, they'd have to make it all the way to Purrfang. The Jurvain are very thorough—they wouldn't leave a planetary llan's fleet in their rear for very long, even if it is just a merchant marine. They'd have to take Nhur sooner or later—probably sooner." He shrugged. "I'm just saying that planetary defense might be a good investment for our long-term future projections."

"Are you mad, cub?" Yawr growled. "What makes you think the Nhur Llan can afford a warship?!"

"Oh, we can't, obviously," Heth agreed. "But I suggest a simpler—and cheaper—upgrade to our defenses."

Yawr sniffed the air. "Eh? Cheaper, you say? What did you have in mind?"

"Well, most of the Miao freighters have at least some armament—"

"If you can call it that," Yawr scoffed. "Point defense grids and a short-range laser or two for defense against pirates and meteors, nothing more. That was all the humans allowed us to have."

"Yes…" Heth smiled. "But the Miao weren't limited by that, were we? Many of our larger freighters carry at least one railgun—concealed, of course. Correct?"

"True." Yawr nodded. "If they get caught by an Earth Fleet patrol ship, a hidden asset to surprise them with is always a prudent investment.

"And," Heth continued, "we still have the orbital defense platforms that we... er, inherited from the Earth Fleet when they withdrew from Nhur. Those are armed with missiles and railguns, among other things."

Yawr narrowed his eyes, growing impatient. "What's your point, cub?"

"Well, the Jurvain ordered quite a lot of Impossibarium casings for railgun fusion shells," Heth explained. "If Miao Mercantile were to purchase some casings as well, we could have a simple, comparatively cheap weapon that would neutralize the Jurvain's advantage of Impossibarium-armored fighters. Currently, MIRADI's entire production is being sold to the Jurvain, of course, but I might be able to convince Miu to expand production… if there would be a guaranteed customer, that is…"

The LEO drummed his claws on his desktop. "Isn't Impossibarium prohibitively expensive?"

"Well, yes," Heth conceded, "but then, quality costs. In addition to standing up to an armored Jurvain fighter, the Impossibarium shrapnel from an exploding fusion shell would rip a standard warship to pieces." Heth suddenly saw exactly how to tip the LEO's decision in his favor. "A warship, for example, like the Loophole—Gurrmew K'Soth's escort carrier." Heth gave Yawr a Cheshire grin. "If nothing else, just having that capability would certainly level the playing field when negotiating with Soth."

A slow smile spread across the LEO's whiskers. "Yes... perhaps it might be worth investing some resources in after all. It's worth a cost-benefit analysis, at least."

Heth pushed his advantage. "And if I was to merge with Miu again, MIRADI would go back to being a Miao subsidiary! Imagine access to all the Impossibarium that can be produced—and with monopoly ownership!"

Yawr smiled and his tail whisked. "I was wondering when that would come up."

"Why, Nhur could become a K'Nes fortress of profi… uh… what?"

"Still chasing pussy, are you, cub?" The LEO chuckled.

For one of the very, very few times in his life, Heth had no idea what to say. His tail twitched nervously.

"Get your head out of your tail," Yawr said gruffly. "You're running with the big cats now."

"Uh… yes, sire." Heth struggled to get off the topic before he could embarrass himself further. "Umm… well, uh, given our inside information on Jurvain activities, perhaps it would be prudent for the K'Nes Llan to offer a non-aggression contract to the Jurvain?"

"That sounds a lot like an alliance," Yawr hissed, almost recoiling. "Have you forgotten what happened with our last alliance with aliens—the Vulthra?"

"We lost the war," Heth answered, "followed by eight years of human occupation and economic oppression under the Five Acts." He nodded. "Yes, sire, I remember. I lived through it."

"Eh? Did you?" For a moment the LEO looked slightly puzzled. "Bah! All you young cubs look the same to me these days…"

"But I'm not suggesting an alliance, sire," Heth pressed. "Just offering a non-aggression contract! If they don't attack us, we won't attack them—and there our obligation ends. If the Jurvain go to war, we're not obligated to join them, merely remain neutral—which, I believe the K'Nes Llan is planning to do anyway, correct?"

"Eventually…" Yawr nodded.

"And I'm not even saying we have to sign it, sire—just open negotiations. Given what we know about the Jurvain, how they react to the offer will tell us a lot about their intentions."

The LEO licked a paw and rubbed his ear, thinking. "A good point. If we offer a non-aggression contract to them, and they are planning to attack the K'Nes… they'll hedge, they'll delay, they'll stall. But if they're not planning to invade us—which is the most likely option, anyway—they'll jump at the contract." Yawr stroked his mane. "I imagine they'd find it very convenient—it would secure their flank while they focused their attention on the apes. And then the K'Nes can do what we've always done—secretly bankroll the Jurvain to fight the apes for us."

"Either way," Heth added, "we'll know right away if the Jurvain are headed towards the K'Nes or not."

"It's worth floating the idea to the K'Nes Llan Board of Directors," the LEO conceded. "But there might be… unprofitable repercussions."

"Sire?"

"Most of our business is with the apes, you know," he explained. "What if one—or all—of their factions take offense at a K'Nes-Jurvain contract? Or find out we're selling valuable war materials to the Jurvain?"

"Then we sell it to them, too!" Heth answered. "And offer them a non-aggression contract while we're at it! The K'Nes are neutral, after all."

"Well…" Yawr hedged, "the K'Nes Llan hasn't officially declared universal neutrality yet…"

"But… why not?" Heth asked, genuinely puzzled.

Yawr smiled at understanding an angle this young startup didn't. "Because the mere possibility that the K'Nes might ally with one human faction over another tends to sweeten their trade deals. They'll offer our merchants more favorable terms if they think we might eventually take their side in the growing conflict."

"And we can play on that!" Heth said, suddenly excited. "If it looks like the K'Nes Llan might show some mild interest in taking sides—like starting with a simple non-aggression contract with the Jurvain, a move that will surprise no one—the human factions might start competing even more for K'Nes support. Raising their bids, so to speak."

"Which would mean increased profits all around. And that might get some votes in favor of it." The LEO was quiet a moment, his tail swishing thoughtfully. "Alright. I can submit the proposal to the Board of Directors… but that's all I can do. Still, that alone might be enough to put us in a very profitable position." He looked back at Heth. "When will the Jurvain contract be signed?"

"As soon as I can send it to Miu on Urrin," Heth answered. "And… that's something else I wanted to talk to you about, sire. As you know, Miao Mercantile provides the most secure cargo convoys in the K'Nes Llan… I'm sure I can talk MIRADI into hiring our services for the Impossibarium shipments."

"Then do it. I'll reassign one of our security directors to the project."

"Actually, sire…"

Yawr's eyes narrowed to slits; he pawed his perch. "Yes?"

Heth licked his teeth and took the plunge. "Well, I'm already the single point of contact for the Jurvain and MIRADI in this deal. I'm the perfect man to facilitate this transaction…this very big, ongoing transaction."

"What are you saying, cub?"

"Well, to do that, of course, I'd need to be able to manage the entire convoy, not just one ship."

"That would make you a… Vice-Director, I believe," the LEO said.

"Yes, sire. It would."

"And you are currently an Assistant Vice-Director, yes?"

"That's correct, sire."

"So you're asking for a promotion? After what you did to devalue Miao Trading House?"

"I never meant to damage our reputation, sire."

"Reputation is everything in our line of business, cub!" the LEO rebuked him strongly, fur bristling. "And yet you violated the most sacred rule—the only rule!—of the Miao! You…" his face contorted in disgust, "broke a contract!"

"Not intentionally, sire," Heth shook his head vehemently, unable to avoid a touch of panic at this unexpected grilling.

"And not a contract with just any customer," Yawr continued, "but with one of our biggest and most important customers—the Holy Terran Empire!"

"Sire, I delivered the all sixteen power armor suits to Avalon, in full, ahead of sched—"

"And broken!" Yawr snapped.

"They were all working perfectly before they shipped, sire," Heth protested. "Zechariah McNeilly, the Imperial sales representative, inspected each suit personally and found nothing wrong with them! They were old, yes, but in perfect working order!"

"And yet they were all useless by the time they arrived—on your watch!" The LEO's tail swished menacingly back and forth. "McNeilly is a personal agent of Emperor Vin Dane," Yawr growled, "and he told me the Emperor was very upset. The only reason we didn't permanently lose the Empire as a customer was because Miao Mercantile let the Empire keep the defective merchandise and refunded their money—with interest!"

"Yes," Heth agreed, "and I compensated the Miao for the loss out of my personal assets—barely. But I did everything according to the contract, sire, right down the letter! The contract wasn't violated due to negligence or incompetence on my part…" Heth hesitated, then took the plunge. "The merchandise was sabotaged, sire."

"Yes, I've heard your story before." Yawr rolled his eyes. "And you still can't prove it, can you?"

"Actually, I've got a lead on that, sire," Heth lied smoothly.

"Really?" Yawr sounded mildly interested.

"Indeed. I kept one of the broken suits for analysis, you see. It's currently here on my freighter, the Bountiful, right now." Heth's heart pounded as he dug himself deeper into the lie. "I think I've figured out how it was sabotaged… just not by who, or why. Yet."

"Hmmm… intriguing…" The LEO stroked his whiskers thoughtfully. "Alright then… when the first Impossibarium convoy heads for Jurvain space—if you can prove to me that your contract was sabotaged—then the convoy is yours. But if you can't… you're terminated! Understand, cub?"

"Yes, sire."

"Good." Yawr cut the video feed. He didn't even say goodbye.

Panic gripped Heth. He whipped out his snuff box and took a deep breath of nepeta; it quickly calmed him. I lose everything in a little over a month… unless I can prove I was sabotaged. He took another deep hit of nepeta. How in the stars am I going to do that?!