Interesting Times - Chapter 28

April 9th, 2173

21:28 SET

Illium, Tasale-System

Nos Astra

"As you probably know," began Nisco Ron, "we all have a field that makes us valuable to each other."

He pointed at Cicerio, said:" Weapons," and moved his finger to Nessara, De'Tiyovi, and finally himself while saying: "Property, Communication and Information, and for me, it is finances."

"So there is something that my company and I excel in that you would like to take advantage of, am I right?" I guessed, or at least as much as one could guess after having it basically declared to your face.

"Taking advantage of is such an ugly phrase for what we are doing," chuckled Nisco Ron.

"Of course, it is," I responded with a chuckle of my own. Playing along with the illusion that everyone here wasn't using the others to their benefit was probably the best I could do at the moment.

"Everyone here allows the others limited access to their resources to help them in their endeavors," said Nessara, continuing the conversation. "How much the others are allowed to access is a matter negotiated between individuals. But certain criteria have to be fulfilled by every member."

"And what are those criteria?" I asked, but the words barely left my mouth when I spoke up once again. "Wait, before going on to that. You haven't told me what my specialty is supposed to be yet."

"Ah, it seems we deviated a bit from that point," conceded Nisco. "You're not as deeply invested in one field as us, but you more than compensate for that by having a broader spectrum than us. Nessara, for example, could use a slightly cheaper source of materials for all of her ongoing real estate projects."

"That's true," commented the mentioned Asari. "Most of my customers, especially those in Asari space, are very demanding when it comes to their wishes. Some of the buildings they want are so over the top that it is an ordeal getting the materials on time and within the price range they agreed to, of course. A reliable source would be a blessing."

"And you want me to be this reliable source?" I asked, even if I knew the answer already.

"Yes. If I remember correctly, you started your career mostly as a mining company, am I right? And you didn't stop that part of your business after you went into the shipbuilding sector, right?"

Well, it seems they did their homework, too. Just like I researched them, they probably had people collect every bit of information about me they could get their hands on. It was a good thing. I knew from the beginning that I wouldn't work together with incompetent people, no matter how long this relationship would last in the first place, but to get confirmation did reassure me somewhat. And at the same time, it reminded me to be wary. Those people were not the same small-time fish I had to deal with most of the time. They would notice if I moved against them too openly, and I had to be careful not to fall for a trap of their making.

Perhaps I should ask Andrew if he wrote a playbook for his shadow war with the STG and if I could borrow it. I would certainly need it with these people. And who to better take advice from than the master of covert actions?

"That's correct," I answered Nessarra. "Most of the materials go directly into my own factories, but I see no problem to direct some of them your way as long as the demands are not too outrageous."

"It's not like I don't have other sources available. It's just that they can't fulfill my orders in a timely manner."

"Yes, yes, you have lamented often enough about how the building specifications your customers insist on are eating up resources like black holes," interjected De'Tiyovi. "And before you ask," she continued, turning toward me with a stern look," I do not need anything from you. I was against you joining our group in the first place."

"Mirala," said Nisco Ron reproachfully.

"I know, I know, ok? The Circle makes its decisions by majority vote. You mentioned that often enough that I dream about that. If you want something, you pay for it, understood Denebren?"

I nodded wordlessly, showing that I indeed understood what she meant. The fact that she left out how I would pay or what services she offered was telling. She expected me to find it out myself, or I wouldn't be worth her time.

"Good," De'Tiyovi said. "Just don't expect me to clean up behind you if you find your face on the cover of some trash magazine. At least without paying the appropriate price. You have done a good job so far with that, but if you're going to do business with Cicerio, it's going to happen sooner or later. I had to keep his name out of the news often enough to know that it's only a matter of time till it happens again."

"Shut up, bitch!" Cicerio almost screamed, and I think he was embarrassed that it was the truth. His name did come up a few times in some news reports, but it disappeared just as fast.

De'Tiyovi ignored Cicerio's outburst and continued to look at me. "Just a friendly word of warning if you don't want to find your face plastered over the covers of my magazines. Don't try to mess with me, or I'll burn your public life down to the ground."

With her warning given, De'Tiyovi stood up from her chair and made to leave the room without waiting for any confirmation on my part or giving me time to respond to her threat.

When she arrived at the door to the conference room, she said over her shoulder:" As I said, I have a dinner reservation. You can finish this without me, yes? Good."

And with her last words said, she left the room, not taking a single look back at the other occupants.

With her departure, a moment of awkward silence permeated the room.

Even the constant breathing noises of Nisco Ron's environmental suit seemed to be silent.

"Well," said Nessara into the silence, "we all knew that Mirala can be quite excentric, and now our newest member has an idea what to expect when he's going to do business with her."

"I've heard as much, but to see it is another thing completely," I commented, still a bit stunned at her sudden departure.

"She's a stuck-up bitch. That's what she is," snorted Cicerio derisively. "Thinks she is better than any and all. And she's not shy to show it. Don't believe anything you've heard about her being kind and generous," he said, turning to me. "That's the brainchild of her personal PR team. She wouldn't give a single credit to a starving orphan if he begged at her feet."

He added quietly: "The only thing that's good about her is her azure. Can't believe I had feelings for her for a time."

Cicerio said this so quietly to himself that I was sure we weren't supposed to hear that, and if the other heard him as I did, then they showed nothing of it.

"Let's get back on track," said Nisco Ron, trying to get the conversation going again and this time with the right topic.

"As Mirala said, you don't have anything that interests her for now. That can change at a moment's notice. She's whimsical like that. Perhaps more interesting is what Cicerio wants. It's, after all, something within your power to grant."

"Oh? I guess it has something to do with the armaments I produce?" I questioned.

Instead of Nisco Ron, Cicerio answered since he was the one we were talking about.

"Correct," he confirmed simply. "I've got contacts all over the galaxy, and not just inside Citadel space. Those guys in the Terminus systems are always looking for something that can give them an edge over their rivals. And then their rivals go looking for an even better edge, and so on. Out there, it's almost like you have to sell only just one good gun, and you create a continuous cycle of customers. So, as long as you can keep your inventory stocked, there's a steady income."

"And I'm your inventory in that case?"

"Hah, not really," laughed Cicerio off with a shrug. "I got most of the things they want covered. My usual suppliers are good enough for them. But if you want, I could add yours to my assortment. There are always some people looking for exotic weaponry, and human weapons still belong to that category. And if you got some combat vehicle that you don't need anymore, then I wouldn't say no to buying them from you."

"I have to decline on the combat vehicles for now," I answered with my hands raised in an apologizing manner. "Most of them go directly to the Alliance military or the Colony Defense Forces. It would be quite bad for my company if those suddenly appeared in the Terminus systems. The same could be said for anything the military uses. But, if you're looking to sell inside Citadel space, then I could at least open our civilian line of products for you. And if some of them happen to disappear into the Terminus systems? Well, my company can't be held accountable for the decisions of others."

"Of course not," snorted Cicerio. "I'll let you know if something comes up."

I answered his offer with a slightly grateful nod in his direction. It would probably be an advantage if my civilian weapons got disseminated a bit more. It would hopefully create the beginnings of a brand awareness I could cash in down the line. On the other hand, if they started to appear in the Terminus systems it could mean bad PR. Well, when they started to appear there in mass. I'm sure some were already appearing out there, but in such a small volume that it was negligible. It didn't matter how good your security was, something always leaked through.

"Anyways," continued Cicerio. "What I really need is a means of transporting my goods. I recently made a deal with a Turian major. The Turian military is about to refit their soldiers. That means guns, armor, and vehicles are about to be exchanged for new ones. Normally, the old ones would be taken apart and their parts reused. But the major in charge of that is selling me the old ones for a good price. Some money goes into the rearmament and some into his personal accounts. The latter is, of course, just a little consultation fee for helping me make everything legal. Also, thanks again for getting me into contact with that lawyer, Nisco."

"It was no problem," Nisco Ron inclined his head. "Making sure that no trouble comes up that could rebound on this group is also one of my tasks."

"One that you took over voluntarily," interjected Nessara.

"Somebody has to do it, or not?" responded Nisco Ron, and even through the voice modulation of his environmental suit, I could hear that he was annoyed about the fact. "If I hadn't intervened at times, our connections with each other could have put us all in a hairy situation because some weren't careful enough with what they were doing!"

"Please calm down, Nisco. We've gone over that situation often enough. And nothing similar happened since then," placated Nessara, who shot a look at Cicerio, telling him without words to be quiet on the matter while she tried to defuse the situation, she started with a careless remark.

Thankfully, he understood what Nessara wanted from him, and he didn't at more fuel to the fire to derail our conversation. Instead, he turned back to me and said: "When the Turian military finally gets started with their rearmament, I will need enough ships with big cargo holds to transport everything to a warehouse I already organized. And I will need ships to transport them to my potential buyers."

"Are you looking to buy some or just rent them?" I asked.

"If it's possible, I would rather rent them. That way, I can rent multiple ships for the same price I would buy one in the same category. Do you have ships for transporting tanks and the like? Ones that aren't normally for military use?"

"The bigger mining ships should be enough. The amount of materials they transport, and the equipment they need for the mining itself, is enormous. Should be enough to transport three or four tanks easily. I would need the specifications of the tanks before I can make any definite promises, but it should be possible."

"Great," said Cicerio with a smile. "I'll let you know when I know more about the job."

"As long as you tell me in advance so that I have the chance to organize the sips, everything should go well. By the way, I would like to get paid with a percentage of the profits you make with the arms you're getting. And you cover the bills for the used fuel."

"Of what percentage did you think?"

"40."

"40?!" Cicerio almost screamed. "That's basically robbery. I'm the one organizing the deals. And it's by my hand that those deals are even possible. 10%, at max!"

"So, you say, but how are you gonna transport them, huh? You said it yourself, you need my ships. And I don't know anyone who could lend you ships like those you will need. 35," I countered with a savage grin.

"There are some out there. It wouldn't be cheap, but still cheaper than what you're demanding. Also, I'm the one covering the costs of storing them until I can find a buyer, and that's my job, too. 15."

"Yes, that may be, but there's one thing you're forgetting. What I am demanding is to cover the costs of collecting them from your Turian contact, delivering them to your warehouse, and then the delivery to your customer, as well. If you're looking for someone else to do it, then you can be sure that you're going to have to make the deal for the ships twice. Those people you know won't keep the ships on stand-by till you find a buyer. That's two times the cost, plus extra fees because when you find a buyer they have to pull the ships from other jobs since the delivery must happen fast or your buyer is gonna be pissed. 30."

It went on like this for some time until Cicerio and I agreed that I would get 24% of every arms deal he would make with the old equipment of the Turian military he acquired. Be it tanks, APCs, Airships, rifles, or old body armor. In return, I would handle the transport for everything, and not just for the vehicles.

While we were negotiating, Nessara and Nisco Ron watched our conversation, their heads turning from one person to the other like they were watching a tennis match.

"It seems like you found one of the advantages as a circle member," commented Nisco when our negotiations ended. "As long as we're in private like this, our negotiations with each other don't have to follow the same protocols as we would have to if we did it in a meeting room at one of our companies. I would like to believe that this way is more efficient. If you two would like to, I could take care of the official contract between you two. My lawyer is familiar with the necessary additions for a Circle Contract."

"Should be alright from my side," agreed Cicerio with a shrug. "What about you, Denebren?"

My eyes narrowed at Nisco Ron, my mind fixated on a term he used.

"Before I agree, what's a Circle Contract?"

"Ah," exhaled Nisco. "I wanted to explain that peculiarity later on, but since we already mentioned it, I see no reason not to explain it now."

Nisco fidgeted on his chair for a bit, probably deciding where to begin with his explanation. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw how Cicerio threw Nessara a brief look, which she stoically ignored. Now that I thought about it, it wasn't the first time Cicerio looked in Nessara's direction, but she never acknowledged any of them.

Before I could think further on the matter, Nisco coughed slightly to get my attention, and he said: "Essentially, it's a tradition dating back centuries when the Circle of Alameina was comprised solely by Asari. They wanted to work together like business partners, but also towards a common goal. To prevent the leaking of Circle secrets, they pooled some of their assets together, and every member had to sign a contract that stated that if they sold any secret to an outsider, their part in the common trust fund would be forfeited."

"So there's a common trust fund," I interjected, finally finding out why they were even working together in the form of the circle. "Who's the one in charge of the trust fund? I hope it's not you, I would feel a little bit uncomfortable if it's a member of our group."

"Nobody of us knows," Nessara threw in. "I've never met this person, and I'm the member with the longest time in the Circle."

"You have never met this person," I repeated incredulously, raising an eyebrow in her direction.

"It's the truth," defended Nessara. "All I know is that it's an Asari, and she's doing this since the founding of the Circle. She never involves herself in our affairs, and only intervenes if there's an accusation of broken trust between two members."

"Ayala is right. We don't know who it is, only that she looks over our trust fund. By the way, as a new member, you're expected to pay into it. Normally, we would expect a percentage of your whole company, but since the Economy Protection Laws concerning the Alliance are still viable for a few years, we expect you to transfer 20% of your company here on Illium to the trust fund."

If he meant to intimidate me with that number or the fact that I would lose more than half of my company branch here on Illium if I 'betrayed' their trust to outsiders, then he was wrong. I didn't even blink when I nodded at his demand and gestured with my hand carelessly to show him to get on with it.

"In any case, the resources we pool together can be used if more than half of our group decides to use them for something. For example, if there is a business rival that is a thorn in our side, we use the trust fund to buy up every share of his company. 25% go back into the fund, and the remaining 75% is split up between us. That way the fund is always growing. Of course, should we decide not to do anything, then there's a yearly payout. In regards to Circle Contracts, a percentage of every business deal made between members of the Circle goes into the fund as well."

"And I guess using the fund against a member of the Circle is prohibited?" I asked.

"That's correct. Should a member even suggest such a thing, half of their security deposit will be seized by the Circle fund," clarified Nisco.

Interesting, I thought. So, if I wanted to use the resources of the Circle of Alameina for my own benefit, then I would have to look for opportunities that helped not only me but at least two other people of the Circle, too. It should be easy to find something that benefited one person, but the second one would be harder. Finding common ground with Cicerio would probably be easy enough, but including a third person in our plans would be difficult.

No matter, an excellent opportunity will reveal itself. That's just the way the business world works. If one kept their eyes open and waited long enough, there would always be something. One just had to grab it.

"Before I sign anything," I said, turning to Cicerio, "I would like to see the additions that make our contract a Circle Contract. If that's alright with you."

"It will take some time until I can pick up anything anyway," shrugged Cicerio. "So, I see no problem with waiting for the contract to be signed."

"I'll send you the finished contract," promised Nisco, and added a note on his Omni-tool. "I believe that should be everything for today."

"Just one more thing," I stopped Nisco from getting up. "You still haven't told me what I can do for you, Nisco. I know that you will be able to help me by letting a few million credits disappear. So what is it you want?"

Nisco sat back down on his chair and started to chuckle a bit. "I would have preferred if we did this in private, but I'm not disinclined to discuss this here and now. There're not many things we can't discuss in this room after all."

"I don't care either way," I conceded. "But I am rather curious, so please tell me."

"Thanks to the deal you negotiated with the Citadel, it's almost impossible to influence the economy of the Alliance. There are too many regulations to make money easily in the Alliance territory. It's a bother,"

"You call it a bother, I call it the protection of human interest," I countered.

"Let's just say we won't ever agree on that point before we lose ourselves in a pointless argumentation."

"I can live with that," I agreed with a nod. "So, what is it you want?"

Nisco stayed quiet for a moment, his silence only interrupted by his breathing noises.

"I want an in on the human stock market. It's only a matter of time until the deal you negotiated has run its course, and from that moment on every broker worth his name is going to concentrate on the human stock market. The prices will be going through the roof, and I just want to be earlier than anyone else."

"And you think I will be able to help you?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes," Nisco answered simply. "I'll give you the necessary money, and you finalize the transaction. Furthermore, you hold onto the stocks until I can take possession of them legally. Of course, the payout of those stocks goes to me, excluding a small fee for your troubles."

"Seems good to me," I said. "But why me? You could probably ask any human here on Illium to do this for you."

"Because I can ask any human here on Illium," repeated Nisco back to me. "But I won't. I didn't get to the position I now have by just asking the next person. I waited until I found the perfect person. To be careful means to minimize the risks, and I am nothing but a careful person. Having you as my middleman, bound by a Circle Contract to our agreement, is better than anything else. Any other human could either run away with my stocks or he and I could be penalized by the Alliance for foreign influences on the market."

"And you think those risks don't exist with me?" I asked, rather amused that Nisco was thinking this way.

"You're the only human I've come into contact with that would enter with me into a contract where he would lose probably more than gain if he doublecrossed me."

I didn't hide the bemused smile that played on my lips.

"Secondly," he continued. "the normal consequences of helping an alien getting an in into the human market don't apply to you. Nobody in the Alliance is going to commit career suicide by charging you for anything."

The smile didn't leave my face the whole time Nisco Ron was giving me his sales pitch. What could say at that moment? That he was wrong, and some ambitious person would try to drag me in front of a court?

Not even I could sell that lie to my current crowd, so I kept silent and continued to listen.

"So, what do you say?" asked Nisco after he explained some more details of his plan.

"It does sound intriguing. But before I commit to anything, I would like to see what stock papers you have in mind," I said, trying not to commit to anything.

"That can be arranged."

I nodded at him and started to get up from my chair.

"I think that should be everything for today, don't you?"

A quick look around the room, and I couldn't see anybody making any moves to stop me from leaving.

After a round of farewells, I left the room and the building the same way I entered it.

When I arrived at the landing platform, I stopped for a moment to stroke over my left eyebrow with my right thumb.

After all, it's important to notify the teams tasked with protecting you that everything went fine and that they don't have to expect trouble following me. They would still guard my back until I arrived safely at my home, but it would probably help them relax a bit.

I didn't have to wait much longer until my shuttle arrived, and I didn't even wait until the side door fully opened before I jumped in and told my driver to bring me home.

As I leaned back into my comfortable couch, I let out a sigh.

Today's evening had been exhausting but successful.

Truth be told, I couldn't wait to see if my new business friends were truly going to be an enrichment or not.

One thing I knew for sure, I would come out ahead in the end, no matter what.