The Fringe Wars

5.16

Death by Committee

Nova Colony, within the Space Coast asteroid belt

Reyne sat at the large table in Critch's office on Nova Colony. Critch was still out searching for the Honorless, leaving Nova Colony and his home in Seda's hands. Reyne suspected Critch wouldn't be gone for long—Reyne had heard that Seda had quickly grown accustomed to Critch's accommodations, which would no doubt irritate Critch. Seven people sat around the table, including the other stationmasters: Joe Thomas of Rebus Station, Hatha Satine of Sol Base, and Margerite Dubois of Devil Town. Hari, of course, sat next to Seda as his ever-present second-in-command. Shauna Fields filled the last chair. Reyne had met her during the war when she was a conscript on a CUF ship. She'd quickly developed a reputation as a capable leader, and he'd heard her speak on several calls with the other stationmasters.

"Thank you for joining me in person. I know how much it takes for you to make the journey," Seda began. "It's been several months since we've had an onsite meeting, as we've all been incredibly busy getting the Alliance of Free Colonies off the ground. We have an offer from a group of private investors in the Collective that can help us with the one thing we all desperately need more of, and that's money."

Hatha held up a finger. "I'll stop you there, Seda. While I agree we're all currently bootstrapped, I thought we all agreed that we'd be developing Alliance currency so that we're no longer dependent on Collective currency."

"And I'm not inferring that we break from that strategy. The proposal I've received will help build up our economic strength. The Alliance currency, once we develop it, will be more comparable in value to that of the Collective's."

"What's the proposal, Seda?" Joe asked.

"It's a one-time mass purchase, off the books for all Collective trade, and to be transacted this month. Ten billion credits to each fringe station for the purchase of fuel from Terra, cavote from Darios, blue tea from Spate, and rilon from Playa. Hari is sending you the contractual details to your wrist comms now."

All four stationmasters reviewed the proposal on their small screens. Reyne's jaw slackened. He cocked his head at Seda. "Those numbers are higher than any of us have seen before, except for maybe you, and you think the Collective won't notice?"

"Oh, they'll notice all right, but as it's a private deal, they have no say. It's a huge opportunity for each of your colonies."

"It's also a huge demand," Margerite said. "It'll wipe out our warehouses. Anyone else with contracts would have to be delayed. We'll lose money if we have to pay for breaking contracts."

"Any money you lose will be drops from the bucket of what you'll make," Seda said.

"The Collective tariffs will put a dent in our earnings," Hatha said.

Seda shook his head. "They have attorneys in place to handle the tariffs. Consider them excluded from your transactions."

Reyne leaned back. "You know, whenever I hear something too good to be true, it usually is. That some mysterious group of private investors jumps in to help us when we need it most seems awfully suspicious." Reyne frowned when his words brought forth memories and trepidation. "Speaking of mysterious groups, this isn't connected to the one you were involved in a while back, is it?"

"What group is that?" Joe asked.

"No, it's not," Seda said. "I broke my affiliation with that group before the war."

Reyne wasn't so sure he believed Seda. "Well, I still think it's mighty suspicious for a group to pop up out of nowhere. Why would a group have an immediate need for so many resources?"