money.”
“We're up to fifty credits a
gallon
,” Lyle said. “We can buy five shiploads of atacirc for a gallon?”
“We got screwed by them boys,” Mr. Haselbauer said.
“Which is why I insisted on more than one corporation being represented,” Tyler said.
“Dollars are not going to translate to credits but
work
will. How much will it cost to send some of our grad students to Glatun to learn their
technologies? How much will it cost to get Glatun to come here to teach? How much will it
cost for us to get starter plants and fabbers to make more? We should be able to buy more
advanced technologies with this. Not much but it's a start.”
“We need to be able to buy advanced weapons, sorry as I am to say that,” Ms. Castilla
said. “So we can get the Horvath out of our sky.”
“A Revenuer wanting to defend the country?” Mr. Haselbauer said, grinning. “Will wonders
never cease?”
“Listen, you...”
“Enough,” Tyler said. “We don't need tribal differences right now. We can't buy enough
weapons, even with the full load, to matter. Probably. It's possible they have weapons we
can set up there that mean no Horvath can survive getting through the gate. But I doubt
it. For right now, we need to be important to the Glatun powers-that-be so that they will
bring
weapons. And Glatun that know how to use them. Which is why we're going to geek to fifty
credits a gallon. Because they're going to make a very nice profit and they will
like
us. We've pushed the negotiations far enough that they won't take us as pushovers.
Hopefully they'll be smart enough to see what we're doing. But if I'm getting their
society, there is one more thing we need and I can
not
think of a way to get that!”
“What?” Castilla asked.
“You don't want to know.”
***
“Mr. Vernon,” the Gorku representative said. “It is a pleasure to meet you.”
“And you, Mr...” Tyler said, grimacing. “Sorry, terrible with names.”
“Hetuncha,” the Glatun said. “It is easier if one has implants. You really don't have to
remember
as you think of it.”
“Nice ability,” Tyler said. “How much does that cost, exactly?”
“Depends on the implants,” Hetuncha said with a slight sneeze. “A basic implant set-up,
were there any designed for humans, would be about fifty credits. Full standard civilian,
with all the trimmings as you would put it, runs about four hundred depending on your
accessories. Can run more but such people are considered... strange.”
“And an AI?” Tyler asked.
“AIs are somewhat limited,” Hetuncha said. “Only a few thousand are produced a year and
they have strict limitations on action. A very basic AI is several thousand credits and in
your current, unfortunate, security situation the Glatun government would never permit an
AI to reside in the system. There is one on the freighter which accompanied us, a Gorku
freighter I might add.”
“Ah,” Tyler said. “And a super-cannon to shoot the Horvath out of the sky?”
“There are ground based defense systems of course,” Hetuncha said. “But they are of
limited use due to orbital mechanics. Point-defense only. You wrote
TradeHard
. You know that.”
“Just hoping,” Tyler said.
“We also have laws against trade in weapons in most cases,” Hetuncha said, working his
snout.
“Heh,” Tyler said. “See how long that lasts when White and Green mountain folk start
having off-planet credit to burn. Like they won't find some free-trader to supply ray
guns? There are things, however, that I'd like to buy that I doubt would bother your
government. Nothing weapon-like at all. But I'm not sure if it's off-the-shelf or
something that needs to be customized. Also, I am in the near future going to be
interested in doing some movement of...
“We're up to fifty credits a
gallon
,” Lyle said. “We can buy five shiploads of atacirc for a gallon?”
“We got screwed by them boys,” Mr. Haselbauer said.
“Which is why I insisted on more than one corporation being represented,” Tyler said.
“Dollars are not going to translate to credits but
work
will. How much will it cost to send some of our grad students to Glatun to learn their
technologies? How much will it cost to get Glatun to come here to teach? How much will it
cost for us to get starter plants and fabbers to make more? We should be able to buy more
advanced technologies with this. Not much but it's a start.”
“We need to be able to buy advanced weapons, sorry as I am to say that,” Ms. Castilla
said. “So we can get the Horvath out of our sky.”
“A Revenuer wanting to defend the country?” Mr. Haselbauer said, grinning. “Will wonders
never cease?”
“Listen, you...”
“Enough,” Tyler said. “We don't need tribal differences right now. We can't buy enough
weapons, even with the full load, to matter. Probably. It's possible they have weapons we
can set up there that mean no Horvath can survive getting through the gate. But I doubt
it. For right now, we need to be important to the Glatun powers-that-be so that they will
bring
weapons. And Glatun that know how to use them. Which is why we're going to geek to fifty
credits a gallon. Because they're going to make a very nice profit and they will
like
us. We've pushed the negotiations far enough that they won't take us as pushovers.
Hopefully they'll be smart enough to see what we're doing. But if I'm getting their
society, there is one more thing we need and I can
not
think of a way to get that!”
“What?” Castilla asked.
“You don't want to know.”
***
“Mr. Vernon,” the Gorku representative said. “It is a pleasure to meet you.”
“And you, Mr...” Tyler said, grimacing. “Sorry, terrible with names.”
“Hetuncha,” the Glatun said. “It is easier if one has implants. You really don't have to
remember
as you think of it.”
“Nice ability,” Tyler said. “How much does that cost, exactly?”
“Depends on the implants,” Hetuncha said with a slight sneeze. “A basic implant set-up,
were there any designed for humans, would be about fifty credits. Full standard civilian,
with all the trimmings as you would put it, runs about four hundred depending on your
accessories. Can run more but such people are considered... strange.”
“And an AI?” Tyler asked.
“AIs are somewhat limited,” Hetuncha said. “Only a few thousand are produced a year and
they have strict limitations on action. A very basic AI is several thousand credits and in
your current, unfortunate, security situation the Glatun government would never permit an
AI to reside in the system. There is one on the freighter which accompanied us, a Gorku
freighter I might add.”
“Ah,” Tyler said. “And a super-cannon to shoot the Horvath out of the sky?”
“There are ground based defense systems of course,” Hetuncha said. “But they are of
limited use due to orbital mechanics. Point-defense only. You wrote
TradeHard
. You know that.”
“Just hoping,” Tyler said.
“We also have laws against trade in weapons in most cases,” Hetuncha said, working his
snout.
“Heh,” Tyler said. “See how long that lasts when White and Green mountain folk start
having off-planet credit to burn. Like they won't find some free-trader to supply ray
guns? There are things, however, that I'd like to buy that I doubt would bother your
government. Nothing weapon-like at all. But I'm not sure if it's off-the-shelf or
something that needs to be customized. Also, I am in the near future going to be
interested in doing some movement of...
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