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14: Negotiation, Wealth, Threat, Agreement, Destination

23:52 Fri 15 Sep 2006. Updated: 01:46 16 Sep 2006
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“How much is the reward?”
“One hundred million.”
“So little?”

I would be able to triple that easily at a base. Any of them contained at least ten times that, and had facilities for connecting to the rest of my fortune.

“Haven’t you read my file? I’m worth considerably more than that.”
“Were. You were worth that much. You’re not worth much anymore, except to Redmane.”
“I’m still worth a lot more, if I can get to my assets. Which Redmane wants to prevent, of course.”
She didn’t say anything to that.

“How about I give you two hundred million?”
“What?”

I just nodded and let her deal with it. She shook her head, but before she spoke I said, “It’s not just the money. They’ll kill both of us if you bring me back.”
“Why?”
“Same reason: information. They also want me because of my wealth and power. But the information is enough on its own. I know too much, being ex-Board. As for you, they’ll kill you to make sure I didn’t tell you anything, didn’t reveal their secrets while trying to negotiate. It will, of course, look accidental.”
“Bullshit.” But she was a little worried, because it made sense.
“No, they’ll treat you like a loose end. You can trust in them, or you can trust someone you just rescued from deep space. Either way you’re taking a big risk.”
“And if I trust you, how would it work?”
“We go to my base in Shawch.”

(250 words)

The above is part of a series of microfiction pieces.

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