To the Liberty Navy High Command, care of Commodore Christina Robinson.
As this is an encrypted message, and we are chiefs talking to chiefs with no little indians present, I'm going to dispense with all the circumlocution.
I am sure that you are aware of what this message is about. You know that we know about Floor B of Willard Research Station, and we know that you know about Atka Research Station's projects.
I am sure you understand the benefits a non-harmful, legal and controlled cardamine substitute would have, both in the civic sector, with Denver and Houston's sizable addiction problems, and the ramifications it would have on the supply structure of our major criminal enemies.
This is all elementary stuff, if you'll let me speak candidly. What I am really asking for, as Commodore Robinson is already aware, is a licence, or permission, or a gentlemen's agreement, or what have you, to transport cardamine lawfully through our House to our research facilities planetside, after successful operations by our small interdiction team. For formality's sake, and the 3 years of business school embedded in my brain, let me isolate and present the various benefits this would offer:
Immediate:
Cryer's efforts alongside the existing ones of the Liberty lawful forces would continue to apply pressure to the smuggling trade, increasing costs and risks for the criminals further still, especially since Cryer can operate farther afield.
Each seized shipment would be one which does not reach its intended destination, the benefits of which are obvious.
Long Term:
Cryer's research into creating a synthetic, 'safe' cardamine substitute, which would posess the benefits but not the numerous and terrible side effects of the drug, whilst also enabling the existing population of addicts to be 'weaned' from their addiction, would create huge sources of revenue for Cryer if successful. In addition to taxes (both business tax and personal tax), we have also been involved with the funding of some not insignificant civic programs, specifically on Denver. More money for us is more money for you. The extra Cryer revenue would also be funneled straight back in to research, enabling us to create more beneficial pharmaceuticals to improve the standard of living in Liberty, not to mention more jobs for its workforce, which would help to improve the chronic poverty and crime of certain demographics.
A safer, cheaper, legal cardamine with no drawbacks would surely eliminate the cardamine trade almost overnight, delivering what must be a crippling blow to the most terrible criminal threats we face in Liberty.
This is how it seems from our perspective. We know it may appear unsightly to some to see the terrible drug being transported openly, but I'm sure those opinions would be reversed if they were aware that each shipment they saw was another step along the road to its permanent eradication. Or we could hand over the vessels of our interdiction team to your servicemen to enable them to install the military-grade scan-blocking equipment your Willard vessels appear to use.
Now, I am most interested in hearing any concerns you may have and how this situation seems from your perspective. And please, speak candidly - don't stand on formality on my account.
Timothy Cryer
CEO and Chairman, Cryer Pharmaceuticals
Transmission; Start
Identification: Commodore Christina Robinson
Location: New York system, West Point military academy
Timothy Cryer, Chairman and CEO of Cryer Pharmaceuticals;
As you insist on cutting to the chase, so will I.
Personally, I am in favour of what you propose. I will put it through Admiral Hale and the other members of the Liberty Navy High Command to see if they agree with me. I can't guarantee anything, so I may become the bearer of bad news, so to speak. Lets hope not.
There may be one large problem with transporting the drug legally and openly, however. As you may or may not know, we have a sizable number of naval, security force and police personnel who somehow manage to get away with not doing anything which could be construed as useful. Of significance, many of them will not be updated on changes to the law to allow exceptions, so you may find problems with lawful forces despite you having our leave to ship your requested cargo. And of course, they wont believe you when you try to reason with them most of the time. As such, if the rest of the Liberty Navy High Command accept your proposal, you may find it neccessary to keep your guard raised whilst in possession of said cargo within our borders.
I am also regretful to say, but military scanner blocking technology is not for public use. It's abuse, perhaps from being salvaged from a ship that you lose, could lead to untracked or much harder to track shipments of any manner of illegal goods into and out of Liberty. Not to mention, the risk of a duplication of our technology, however slim, is an unacceptable risk to take. I hope you understand.
I appreciate your candour. I, too, am aware of the news not spreading through all your ranks for some time, but this was something we were willing to deal with. Transporting it was going to be dangerous regardless of the situation, and we have prepared measures for its security. The danger and risk is not as important to us as the actual legality of the act.
As for your scanner-blocking technology, I of course understand. Our ships cannot be as well defended as yours, so the risk of reverse-engineering is higher. I merely mentioned it as a last-ditch resort if you found the public and legal carrying of the cargo distasteful.
Anyway, I shall await further contact.
Timothy Cryer
CEO and Chairman, Cryer Pharmaceuticals
Transmission; Start
Identification: Commodore Christina Robinson
Location: New York system, West Point military academy
Regarding the shipment of Cardimine to research facilities on Planet Manhattan;
There was a brief discussion between myself and Fleet Admiral Hale about this subject today.
I can say that you'll be able to do what you request legally. However, due to the sensitive nature of the goods you're asking to carry, there are a few provisos to such actions on your part.
Here is the list of things that the Cryer Pharmaceuticals corporation need to agree and adhere to:
We need evidence of each smuggler vessel that is liberated of its cargo. This is to further help us to identify the nature and identity of those shipping cardimine, and will likely aid in our efforts to interdict any illegal shipments made inside Liberty before you get to them.
We would need to know the amount of cardimine to the nearest cargo load dropped off on Manhattan.
We would require that a small portion of each load be diverted to the main Naval processing centre on Manhattan to allow our own scientists to assess its quality. This will help us and the police in determining any contaminations and warning the public of its general use. Even though it is already illegal and has been so for some time, we need to be able to do what we can to prevent its spread through society.
Lastly, all the above information would need to be submitted in a bi-weekly report to the Liberty Navy. You would be able to do this through the Liberty Forces communications array, for which one notification per fortnight would be reserved for the Cryer corporation.
These are the conditions under which we will allow Cryer Pharmaceuticals to ship cardimine through the house of Liberty. I hope they find favour with you.
Your stipulations are of course all completely reasonable and we accept. The cardamine problem is multi-faceted and multi-pronged, and if our efforts in some areas can assist yours in others, then we are more than glad to help.
Please expect the first report a fortnight after our next sortie.
Thank you for being as trenchant and intelligent and reasonable as we have now come to expect from the Navy, and I hope our efforts can make some real headway in to this situation.
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