It was then I realized I had these guys all wrong. They weren’t like gang bosses. They were like the filthiest errand boys at the bottom of the gang hierarchy. They wanted to be gang bosses. I mean no one became a diplomat because they liked to travel. There were plenty easier ways of seeing the universe.
These guys entered politics so they could become someone big. But they pissed off the wrong person and got sent all the way out here.
While placating the Boranjame was a needed job, it had no prestige. It had no perks. It had nothing that anyone who entered politics placed any stock in. Everything of import was done back on their home worlds. These guys were out of the loop.
But I knew what they wanted. They wanted to escape this place. They wanted lives of leisure, positions of power. To move up the food chain. They were just doing time here, like convicts on Belvaille waiting out their statutes of limitations.
CHAPTER 47
I racked my brain and finally came up with something that might have a chance. Theatrics were a necessary part of my plan and I needed the help of the Po servants, so I gave them detailed instructions and prayed they could understand me.
The diplomatic meeting started again and I took my seat with all the other aliens.
“Transcommunication network costs need to be more evenly divided among our empires!” the Gandrine shouted.
The Po I’d contacted earlier with instructions, approached and placed something in front of the Gandrine ambassador before quickly retreating.
More Po came in and laid objects in front of every diplomat and hurried away. No one reacted as the items were not recognized and the Po were seen as background noise to be ignored. I decided to nudge things along and I stood up to speak.
“Gentlemen…and such, the material that sits before you is the reason why I am here,” I stated calmly.
“Your Excellency has already once—,” the purple Po began.
“That’s delfiblinium,” the Rettosians squealed, pointing at the metal on the table, and they jumped away knocking over chairs in their haste.
All the diplomats got to their feet, or equivalent, and backed away as the Po servants continued to pile my uncrated luggage before us.
“The Colmarian Confederation has perfected the process of delfiblinium manufacture. Who wants to do business?”
The first rule of serious, life-or-death negotiating I ever learned was: stall. Even if it was for an hour, in that hour you could often scrape something together more permanent. Every moment they’re listening, you’re not dying.
This was a life-or-death negotiation. Yeah, we had no other delfiblinium. And it took Jyonal, a level-ten, drugged mutant, to make this batch. But no one else knew that.
The Ank was suddenly standing next to me.
“Do you need a broker?” he asked.
When the table collapsed under the weight of the delfiblinium, the diplomats were all strangely silent. This was a highly dangerous substance in front of them, yet they overcame their fear because it was also a potential ticket out of here. I was offering one of the rarest substances in the galaxy, possession of which might elevate any of these diplomats back into the high esteem of their home governments.
The assorted aliens practically attacked me. What do I want? How much do I have to offer? The Qwintine have always favored the great Colmarian Confederation.
But I was waiting for one person who wasn’t here.
“Hank, the Boss,” the purple Po stated.
“Is this not new business?” I asked caustically.
“Could you speak privately?” It tried to make himself heard above the fray.
“I want this ship stopped. And I don’t want to talk to you. I want to talk to the Prince.”
CHAPTER 48
The Therezians walked ahead as the purple Po accompanied me to the Prince’s chamber. We had taken a series of moving floors and flying transports and tube shuttles to get this far. It was far indeed. Before a negotiation this important I would usually want to eat and rest first, but I wasn’t sure how much time I had. Belvaille may have already been destroyed for all I knew.
“Proceed,” the purple Po stated, offering a dozen arms to indicate the direction, as if there was a doubt. It was impossible to tell how large the approaching room was, but the Therezians looked like action figures in comparison to its entrance.
When I finally crossed the threshold, I must say I was impressed.
If the other halls had been massive, this one was in a category all its own. It was beyond belief. It was extraordinary.
Directly in front of me, floating some hundreds of feet in the air, was the Prince.
The purple Po had instructed me to kneel, but I was too dumbstruck.
The Boranjame, as there could be no doubt that’s what it was, exceeded all expectations. I tried to take him in, but it was difficult. The Prince must have literally been miles long and miles high.