“Can I offer you some tea? Something stronger perhaps?”
“No thanks”
Sounds of chairs being pulled and people sitting down
“So, to business then”
“Yes, i’d like to renegotiate the price”
“The price has already been agreed”
“Well you see Mr....”
“Kaneda, we’ve already been introdu..”
“Right, see the economy being what it is, the market in flux and all, prices change. I got overhead”
“Our original offer was competitive Mr Lennox, it would be in your interest to accept it”
“Or... i can take this horde of dirty guns to barrier gate, less trouble for about what yer offerin”
“Twenty four million is the agreed price Mr Lennox, please do not waste our time”
“Twenty nine”
“Fine, twenty eight”
“Fifteen”
“You must be high! What do you take me for?”
“The offer is now fifteen”
“The hell with you boy”
Sounds of a chair moving, someone standing
Sounds of struggling, ruffling cloth and moving furniture
“The hell is this!?”
“We are not done Mr Lennox”
“You aint heard me right boy! You can stick that fifteen mil right up yer..”
“Our offer is fifteen million”
Sounds of ruffling cloth
“See this here? One press on this here button and the cops get the exact location of this here... secret annex or whatever. And they’ll get the grand tour of aaaall of what you got goin on here. What you cookin up in there huh? Cardamine?”
“I’d advise against it”
“That you would”
“Do so and you shal find your ship, your crew and all else it contains destroyed”
“You don’t scare me kid, thirty mil”
Sound of something sliding across a table
“Is that?..”
“..a nuclear device, yes. Attached to your ship’s hull”
“Son of a..”
“You see Mr Lennox i also have a button, care to guess what it does?”
“Bull. You’d blow away half the station”
“Muto san, please contact the harbour master and have her direct the Fox Jasper to launch immediately. We need to make urgent repairs to the moor it is docked to”
Silence
“Your dare is the only reason you are still alive Mr Lennox”
"Very well, what is this all about?"
Sounds of a chair being pulled and someone sitting
"Please, sit, Herr Shultz"
"If i must"
Another chair being pulled and someone sitting
"We must discuss our arrangement"
"What is there to discuss?..."
"It would appear that your contacts in Rheinland..."
He clears his throat
"...do not exist"
A momentary silence
"How.. how do you mean?"
"You lied to us Herr Schultz"
"I...there must be some kind of..."
"Perhaps if I were to..."
"Please"
"Usually we would not go as far as Rheinland to validate the fakery you sold to us, but you are a man of standing are you not Herr Shultz?"
Silence
"And we would be foolish to execute such a man of standing without due diligence"
"I.. I.. Please gentlemen, I..."
"I suppose you have something else to offer us?"
"Yes!"
"Something that would compensate us for the deceit and dishonour of your actions?"
"Yes! Yes... anything... I'll.. I'll give.."
"Your assets on New London are of no value to us"
A momentary silence
"Please.. Takuya.."
"What we want from you is simple"
"You have direct access to the Rheinland Military secure comms. We'd like you to take a vacation. A week. Let's say Curacao. But before you leave you'll forget to log yourself out of your work console. Do you follow?"
"I.. I couldn't.."
"Are you sure?"
"It's treason Mr Nakagawa. They would kill me"
"We, will kill you Herr Schultz!"
"We'll kill you before supper"
"I.. I.. I.."
A chair scrapes on the floor and someone stands
"Mr Muto! I leave Mr Schultz in your care. Please do your utmost to make him see his error in judgement"
"Please forgive the rugged surroundings, but it suits our purposes"
"Enchanter"
Many chairs drag across the floor as people take seats
"Now that you are here we can discuss the finer points and, i hope, seal our partnership"
Sound of a cork popping
"It is a custom..."
Sound of a bottle being set down
"...to open a bottle of wine before talk of business"
"I see..."
"It is so... that the wine has time to breathe. Once we have reached an accord, if the wine's bouqet is rich, it is a good deal, if it is sour, it is a bad deal"
"Then we will honour and enjoy your custom"
A momentary silence
"Have you considered our proposal?"
"I have, it seems we both may benifit from such an arrangement"
"However, five thousand kiloliters is alot to be taking on at once, especially for your premier shipment..."
"Is this an issue?"
"It has...... potential, to be an issue"
"Understand this is alot for us to offload onto a new investor"
"How are you equipped to handle such a large amount of goods discreetly?"
"We have that covered. While I admit, at present our capacity is limited, I assure you we will be more than ready by the time of the first shipment. I'll be happy to exhibit some of our infrastructure once we're done here if you're not convinced"
"Hm.."
"How will you move the goods through the blockade?"
"Oh... fingers in various pies, i'm sure you understand"
"Huhuh.."
A momentary pause
"For the sake of caution then, we propose this..."
"A thousand kiloliters of NOX will arrive an hour ahead of the proposed shipment. If the operation runs smoothly, then you shal recieve an additional four thousand at the prediscussed time. Is this agreeable?"
Some undiscernable whispering
"And the quota we mentioned?"
"Ten thousand kiloliters a quarter to be continually supplied by our runners to the depot in Leeds"
More undiscernable whispering
"Then we have an agreement"
"D'accord"
Sounds of hands clapping into a handshake
"Bontemps!"
Sounds of wine glasses clinking and being set down