Chapter 103 - Trade Deals

“…Finally, the Founders were able to break free, and found themselves here, in Nuevo Edo. What should have been a journey of a hundred years and twenty-five light years had turned into a mere ten years, but a good deal further than we had ever intended.”

As Akagi finished her tale, I looked to the rest of my team. They looked as shocked as I had been. Everyone knew that there was an ancient civilization (at least one) out there, since the Gateways existed, but to find proof that one of the Ancient civilizations that had not yet succumbed to the passage of time was astounding. That they apparently eschewed the Gateways and instead covered distances of over twenty-five thousand lightyears in mere days was the stuff of science fiction. If I didn’t have proof in front of me, I’d swear they were lying.

“And you never found out who they were?”

Fukuya shook her head. “Unfortunately, no. The colony ship had suffered damage from the… turbulence of being caught in the ship’s wake, so by the time they were able to break free, they… expedited the landing procedures for the colony. There was one thing, however. The morning after we landed at Chiba-dos, in front of the main access point to the colony ship we found the Spire, which had not been there the night before. On the Spire were written hundreds of combinations of symbols, ones we later learned were the same as the ones on the Demon Gate, except one. Along with the addresses, there were snippets of writing in both an alien script, and Japanese.”

“Oh, holy shit. The aliens left you an address book, for when you finally figured it out, so you could ‘call home’ if you learned how!”

Akagil nodded solemnly. “Unfortunately, that chance never came. It took us almost seventy years to return to space after the state our colony was in after landing. It wasn’t until we were able to get a closer look at the Demon Gate that we understood what the Spire was trying to tell us. Miguel Sanchez, the leading researcher on the Spire, was one of the first victims of the Demons when they first came through the Demon Gate. Since then, more effort has gone into detection and defense than researching a doorway to where our nightmares dwell, once we learned we could not destroy it, at least.”

“Well, I guess that’s as good a lead in as I’ll get, so let me start my pitch. I am the leader of the Black Star Company, as you know. We have three basic arms to the company: Shipping, Security, and Shipbuilding. We build ships which we then use in the Shipping and Security arms, or sell to public and private groups. We ship goods throughout the Confederation of Allied Planets and we’ve started making some inroads in the Terran Empire, using contacts we made during the Civil War. The Security arm is designed to respond to a variety of situations, from anti-piracy work to assisting in fleet battles, and we have tactical elements capable of a wide array of offensive and defensive missions.”

I paused, and then said, “This conversation is private, completely. Not one word of what is said inside this room will be repeated on the outside by my people, so please allow me to get straight to the point, without the posturing and social niceties one typically wastes so much time with in this kind of situation.” The premier looked like she wasn’t exactly keen to hear what I was about to say, but nodded.

“Your military technology is, frankly, obsolete. You have done very well for yourselves, in isolation without access to the innovations that have come in from Known Space. The rest of the Galaxy knows you’re here, now, sine a fleet the size of the one I put together for this expedition was hard to miss. I’ve managed to keep the coordinates for this Gateway hidden, but the Known Gates will be watched, looking for our return, so the moment we send any ships back to our primary base, you risk being opened to the public. You would be very lucky indeed if it was just governmental groups who came in trying to fight over who got to ‘recruit’ you. More likely, some pirates would come in, sweep away your defenses, and set themselves up as kings.” I paused, and then said, “Tell me, is your population entirely female?”

Akagi shook her head. “No, but the Demon Wars have not been kind. For reasons we do not understand, the Demons target males especially. The lucky ones are simply killed. We do not know what fate awaits those they capture, but none have ever been seen again. Our population is currently just over 85% female. The few males we have are… well, they are jealously guarded as genetic stock, to be honest, as we could not afford to lose any more genetic diversity.”

I nodded. “Then I am afraid that your population would essentially find themselves a pirate’s dream conquest, a planet full of women to take and sell as slaves, if they didn’t… ruin them beyond the point of sale beforehand.” I held up a hand to stall any comments. “I say this not as any kind of a threat, but so you are aware of the gravity of your situation, and what I can offer you.”

“And what is that, exactly?”

“For starters, access to the most powerful fleet of stealth-capable warships in Known Space, perfect for, say, Demon hunting, or keeping the pirates and more forceful government types at bay while you build up your defenses to something capable of actually defending your world against modern threats. My ships are blooded in battle against superior foes, and they still fly while the enemy was broken before them. Moreover, having Black Star guarding your world, even temporarily, will convince the governments that worked with us before that you might be one of the more reasonable sort, unlike some of the, shall we say, more fundamentalist types that left Earth and were only rediscovered later.”

“Secondly, we have databases on the flow of goods throughout Known Space. We know what resources are at a premium, and what items are far too common for them to be profitable. Unless you have made great strides in other fields despite your military technology being behind the times, then selling technology is not an option. However, ‘exotic’ manufactured goods, art objects, and other such things may provide an additional source of income if you can get them which market. Any unique elements or pharmaceuticals you have would be almost certain to be worth more than the cost of shipping them. The primary benefit to you is that our database also includes the typical cost of these kinds of items, which means you would be less likely to get duped into a bad trade deal due to ignorance.”

“And third, with the facilities we have in place, we can begin construction of a shipyard, which would allow us to begin building and repairing ships here in Nuevo Edo, without relying too greatly on the mobile shipyard we brought with us, since the lack of space in the Nightforge means we can only build a single Assassin at a time, or several of the little gunboats. But if we got a shipyard running here, it would open up this arm of the galaxy for exploration and possible settlement, and you would be the center of it.”

Premier Fukuya considered this for a moment, and said, “And you would be the ones providing the shipyard, the shipping, the security, which would profit you greatly in the long run, yes? It is similar to some of the things the Founders recorded their predecessors doing on Earth, before they left.”

I shrugged, smiling slightly. “I never claimed to be a genius, but I have had a couple years to plan what I would do if I found people still alive here. To be honest, I wasn’t sure what we would find, or how reasonable you all would be, which is why I gathered such a large fleet.”

Akagi grumbled. “Which brought us to the attention of the universe.”

“You already had the attention of the universe, General. The ‘Demon’ attacks are proof of that. What I did is open you up to the part of the universe that might want to do something other than kill you and steal your men.”

I leaned back in my chair, and said, “Oh, and in case you were wondering, as of this moment, the current population of the expeditionary fleet Black Star put together is almost 75% male, due to the high concentrations of former military personnel in the mix. While I certainly would NEVER order my crews to come down and have as much sex as they possibly can, people aboard ship can get… antsy if they don’t have a source of ‘release’, and shore leave is a long-held tradition. And perhaps those tireless males in your population may also enjoy adding more… variety to their duties, if any of the women in the fleet are looking for ‘fun’.”

The premier was slack-jawed, and I could see that some of her guards were starting to be really interested in what I had to say, beyond just guarding their leaders. The General, however, laughed. “Oh, my, that would certainly solve a few morale problems in the forces, to say nothing of the general populace.”

“And it certainly wouldn’t hurt morale in the Black Star Fleet either, I assure you. If we can hammer out the details on a trade deal, and set up a starport somewhere a little more populated, we could start a shore leave rotation going pretty quickly.”

The premier recovered from her shock, and said, “There are some issues that would need to be addressed. With males at such a premium, we had some… issues that were getting worse until the men on the planet were put in protective custody, and given scheduled times at the… I think it translates best as ‘Pleasure Halls’. There was some violence between certain groups who wished to lay claim to remaining males by force, and other such foolishness.”

I winced. “Well, I can definitely say that my crews won’t signing up for protective custody, and if someone tries to force them into something, then they’re going to respond, and if it doesn’t get resolved then I’ll have to respond.”

Raven cut in, “Commodore, if we set up a starport near the primary settlement, and built it according to Frontier Plan 4, we could control access to the complex easily enough, allowing those on shore leave to move freely through the complex. It would be limited, but the intoxication and intercourse needs of the crews would be satisfied. It is a short term solution for a long term problem, however.”

I nodded, and looked back to the premier. “Frontier Plan 4 involves building a starport complex with several bars, shops, and brothels surrounding it, as well as customs and security buildings, all enclosed by a high wall. It is a design typically used on planets that are early in their settlement, and may not have completely tamed the fauna local to the area. But as Raven said, this is a short term solution. You’re going to need to prepare for some changes. A majority of human freighter crews in Known Space are male, something like 56%, I believe. The numbers are a little different in alien species, but trend to about the same. A port where everyone is female will be VERY tempting to lonely spacers, but if the captains are worried about their male crew getting snapped up and put in protective custody to keep them from being kidnapped by locals, that is going to hurt trade.”

Fukuya sighed. “Yes, we knew it would cause trouble later on, but we didn’t see a choice, with he fighting, and the Demons stealing most of the men. I’m afraid that even with the promise of trade we won’t be able to relax our controls on them or there will be… unpleasantness. The Founders said that the Japanese were cunning, especially when dealing with rivals, and the Latins were hot tempered and fiery, at the best of times, but especially when it involved sex and romance. The combination of the two cultures has had a few unintended consequences, shall we say.”

I was about to respond when Raven tilted her head in that way that told me she was receiving a transmission, she sent it to my HUD, and I nodded slightly. “Screens are installed?”

“Of course.”

“Bring it up, let everyone see.” On one wall, which looked just the same as the others, a screen activated, showing a view of the Gateway.

It had just opened, and ships were coming through.

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