Boardroom barks

Dustin and Meli settled into the seats that had been prepared for them, the assembled Arof seemingly more interested in stock tickers on their tablets or their glasses of what looked like wine rather than their guests. Unslep ghosted away as the two visitors sat, whatever role he had as secretary to the board clearly now fulfilled.

Just as Dustin was beginning to wonder if he should say something, the Arof woman on the far side of the table from him looked up. “Greetings, ambassador. I see you have brought an aide?”

Meli smiled sweetly, although her ears flickered instantly into annoyance. “His wife, actually. And chief science officer, as it was indicated that you prefer to start trading relationships with information rather than goods?”

Another Arof - a heavily set man with incredibly thick eyebrows that put Dustin rather in mind of a St Bernard - leaned forward at Meli’s words. “A mated pair? Good, good. Rule three hundred and ninety-five, family is more valuable than money, money is more valuable than family. Welcome, welcome.”

At that, two skinny Arof both raised their heads from their tablets and spoke in an eerie kind of unison. “You aways go on about that rule, Rittherd. Surely three-nine-two is more important? ‘You can’t take it with you, but your children can always spend it’.” Turning to Dustin, four beady eyes narrowed and the canids continued, “have you whelped yet?”

The exchange had been fast, and Dustin wasn’t entirely sure what to say. While Emely had prepared information on how the Arof viewed couples and the importance of their rules, the level of inquiry into his reproductive status with Meli was beyond what he’d planned for. He’d expected negotiations, haggling maybe, but not… whatever this was. Fortunately, his wife was faster on the uptake. Looking demure, her ears flickering between happiness and pride, Meli answered for him. “We have two sons. A little over a month old.”

That seemed to be the right thing to say. The assembled canids nodded sagely, before setting their tablets down. “Very well then, ambassador. Let’s hear what you have to trade.”

Going through all the knowledge that the crew of Sola had felt might be worth trading with the Arof took quite some time. At one point, Unslep reappeared with water and a large plate of what Dustin’s prior discussions with Emely let him identify as extraordinarily expensive fruit; the board seemingly unconcerned with scarfing down the value of a small company while they listened to his opening sales pitch.

“So, that concludes the list of things I am authorized to trade as an initial offer. My government will naturally have other material in the future - I believe I mentioned our research and development into the Fractals, the species you and the Olanse call the shadows. Can we reach a deal?” Dustin said, setting down the tablet with which he’d been reviewing the list of information they’d agreed would be worth bringing to a high level trade and glancing around the room.

The heads of the board turned to look at one another, before Rittherd gave a non-committal grunt and leaned forward in his seat. “The schematics for your automats and for the compact weave drive. Being able to fit a drive into a shuttle, even with the maintenance cost - it’d allow multiple businesses to scale to interstellar commerce without the current blockers of larger transport companies availability or buying expensive and potentially often unused hauler ships.”

As the largest member of the board leaned back, Anyin - the woman who had spoken first - gave a low chuckle. “And of course, if we control the technology we can make substantial profit from the maintenance of the drives. Rule three hundred and six - never sell what you can lease a subscription to.” As the remainder of the group nodded sagely, she turned to look directly at Dustin. “So, with that in mind, we can negotiate - we have a few things that might be of interest to your species, assuming you wish for information rather than goods?”

Dustin nodded slowly. “Rule seventy-four. Knowledge is money, I believe? Our friends elsewhere in this area were good enough to supply my staff with a short compilation of your rules.” That comment seemed to earn him good favour with the board - several of the Arof leaning back in their chairs with an odd barking laugh before leaning forward again.

“Wisely said ambassador. In that case, let us look through our databases and see what topics are of interest to you and your allies.” Rittherd tapped his tablet as he spoke, the center of the table sliding open and a holoprojector rising up. “First of all, we have weave-routes…”

Discussing what the Arof could offer took far longer than Dustin had expected. While they were cut off from the wider galaxy, they did have significant development in some areas that often outstripped things the wider community had managed. Admittedly, he suspected that was largely due to a lack of consideration for little things like not accidentally irradiating the crew of shuttles while they were developing their compact engines, mercantilism being worshiped above everything else - but it had gotten them results.

Settling back in his chair, he glanced at Meli who nodded. Turning to the board, he smiled. “Then, do we have a deal? Our jump drives and the logistics behind the automats in exchange for your shuttle drives, a map of onward weave routes and your space traffic control algorithms?”

Rittherd grinned in reply, then stood and walked around to Dustin. “I understand this is your traditional method of sealing a deal?” he said, spitting on one hand and holding it out.

Dustin took a moment to slide the tablet containing the contract over to Meli to confirm it’s contents, then mirrored Rittherd’s gesture, shaking the man’s hand. Behind him, Meli finished reading and tapped the tablet. “We are in accord, husband. The contract is fine, I’ve signed it.”

“Then we will dispatch the knowledge to your ship promptly. I trust you have your end of the deal ready to go?” The twin Arof spoke again, their uncanny synchronization still just as creepy as Meli signalled her agreement.

“In that case…” a voice suddenly spoke, drawing all eyes to the one Arof who hadn’t joined in on the negotiations - a wizened old figure who’d appeared nearly asleep in his chair for the entire time Dustin had been present. “In that case, there is one final matter. Your arrival presents new business opportunities for us, and that encourages us to be more generous than is normally necessary. Children, what is rule fifty-seven?”

The last remark seemed to be addressing the rest of the board - who despite their obvious wealth and power now acted like they were back in school and being told off by the teacher. As one, all four of them answered. “Good customers are rare, ensure they become repeat customers.”

From the elder Arof’s seat a dry barking chuckle emerged. “Good, good. Give our new friend the route to the quiet star. Perhaps they will make something of it. At the least, it is a gift they should appreciate.”

The assembled Arof glanced at one another, then Rittherd nodded. “As you say, chairman.” Turning back to Dustin, he gave an apologetic shrug and added “it’s the route to a system we discovered quite early on that… well, there’s nothing there. It’s got weave jump points, but it’s just a single star on it’s own. At first we thought the Olanse might have cloaked the worlds - but they’ve never been there. It’s weird though - we left a probe there, and we’ve seen shadow ships jump towards it… but they never arrive. Anyone else goes, no issues, but the shadows? Just… gone.”

Two voices in unison added to the mystery. “Technically, the star is under our control currently; ownership passes through the board at regular intervals. We have been unable to discover anything that could explain the anomalies despite considerable expenditure. If you intend to explore it as the chairman suggests, good luck - oh, and do let us know what you find.”