Star Force: Resolution (SF89) (Star Force Origin Series) by Aer-ki Jyr Page B

compartment he
was told to go to and waited there, finding it to be little more than an empty
storage chamber several hundred meters long and high.
    A few minutes later a group of Humans entered, with
Paul being the last in line. He walked quicker than them and got to Thrawn
first with the others visibly questioning his presence here. The Archon gave him
a translation piece of Human design and the mastermind slid it on over his head
like a headband before they began talking, for to this day he still hadn’t
bothered to learn the Star Force language.
    “This is Administrator Keery ,”
Paul began, gesturing to the Human nearest him, “Administrator Keller,
Administrator Harvey, Baron Trew , and Tech Gregory
Kotch. They run all operations in this system, and I felt it was best they met
with you face to face as I explain the situation so there is no
miscommunication.”
    “ Wise ,”
Thrawn said, measuring up the shorter Humans.
      Paul turned to
the Humans. “This is Thrawn, the only mastermind amongst the surrendered
lizards and the reason any of them bothered to surrender in the first place. I
can vouch for him, that he will not attempt any subterfuge, and that his ships
will follow his orders. I know mine will, so there shouldn’t be a conflict here
so long as we all know what’s going on.”
    “What is going on?” the Baron asked.
    “This outer ring is being returned to them so they can
process the materials they will be mining from planets 43, 56, 58, and 62,”
Paul said, indicating the ones that had been so heavily harvested they were no
longer spheres. “That means their mining ships are going to be traveling across
the system on a regular basis and they’ve already been rebuilt to register on
our battlemap and vice versa without them having full access to it. If by some
chance an enemy lizard ship showed up here you’ll be able to see which ones are
ours and so will they,” he said, gesturing to the mastermind.
    “Will they be shipping material out of the system as
well?”
    “No. Everything is staying local and a percentage of
what they harvest will be turned over to you through the connecting columns.
The rest they’re going to use to start building ships for me.”
    “Star Force or lizard tech?” Keery asked.
    “Lizard. New designs we’ve been working on.”
    “To what end?” he asked, looking at their former enemy
questioningly.
    “A project of mine. I need you to leave them to work
on their own. They’ve brought enough supplies to sustain themselves and I’ll
bring in more as needed, but they’re going to be reworking this ring to provide
a lot of stuff so don’t concern yourself with any odd construction activities.
So long as they stay here and don’t cross over, just ignore them.”
    “And if they do?”
    “ Take notice and
inform me ,” Thrawn said evenly. “ I
will be personally overseeing this operation until I am satisfied that it is
stable enough for me to leave in other hands .”
    “What kind of resources will I be getting?” the Baron
asked, but not to Paul.
    “ A comprehensive
load ,” Thrawn answered. “ We are not
searching for individual materials, but will be collecting and harvesting bulk
material and utilizing every part of it possible. Final manifests will be
decided by what raw materials are recovered on a day to day basis .”
    “Are we open to trades?” Trew asked, this time looking at Paul.
    The Archon raised an eyebrow. “I had intended for you
to each keep to your corners, but if you can find arrangements that are
mutually advantageous I see no reason not to.”
    “Is there a security concern with contact?”
    “Possibly,” he admitted, “but usually they do as he
instructs. Press them into an uncomfortable situation and they might revert to
past habits. I assume you can avoid creating such a situation?”
    “If you trust him, then I think we can work something
out.”
    “I’ll leave it to you two then. How soon can you
evacuate this