Enemy in the Dark: Far Stars Book Two (Far Star Trilogy) by Jay Allan

Author:Jay Allan [Allan, Jay]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2015-12-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 16

WILHELM SAT IN THE CONFERENCE ROOM, STARING ACROSS THE table at Danellan Lancaster. The patriarch of the wealthiest family in the Far Stars was white as a sheet. He looked like he might be sick at any moment, and Wilhelm realized the enormity of his predicament—and his own hubris—had finally sunk in.

Lancaster had a difficult choice to make. To fight the governor or to yield and succumb to his demands. His choice would be a true test of the man.

Wilhelm had played his hand perfectly, and he could see in his adversary’s eyes how deeply the fear ran. Danellan Lancaster was afraid of losing his company, the legacy of his family for twenty-five generations. Wilhelm had understood that all along, and he’d made his moves accordingly. The imperial agent knew Lancaster had the strength to fight back, to resist his demands, but it all depended on Lancaster seeing past the risks. Wilhelm had played up those hazards, a carefully choreographed routine intended to convince Danellan his only choice was to ally himself with Kergen Vos.

The facts were less clear-cut. While Governor Vos had indeed managed to purchase over 30 percent of the outstanding shares of the giant conglomerate—threatening the beleaguered master of Lancaster Interests with a stake almost as large as that controlled by his family—the matter was far from concluded. And if Danellan Lancaster held firm, the contest for control could go either way. Now, Wilhelm would find out for certain if he’d faced down the Lancaster patriarch—or if a brutal fight lay ahead.

Wilhelm knew Lancaster had the tools to mount that fight, to challenge the governor’s takeover attempt. The imperial move was half bluff. Yes, the governor could command the resources to outbid the Lancasters for the remaining stock needed for ironclad control. But that didn’t mean they could find the shares to buy. The 31 percent Vos had already acquired was the low-hanging fruit, the stock readily available in the market. Much of the rest was held deep in multitiered family trusts or institutional endowments, where any sale involved endless bureaucracy. Purchasing those shares could take months, even years, and if word leaked that the empire was the buyer, the whole scheme would collapse.

Other holdings were owned by close allies of the Lancasters, and Wilhelm was counting on Danellan’s fear to blind him to his chances to call on their loyalty, on their willingness to hold their shares with his to form a controlling bloc. While he couldn’t match the governor’s bids on a purely cash basis, a large percentage of his shareholders did long-term business with Lancaster Interests, relationships that often dated back centuries. There were many permutations and agreements to be made with the right negotiation.

But, for all his wealth and power, Lancaster was proving to be a moral coward. Wilhelm’s gut told him his adversary didn’t have the strength for a fight with such grand stakes, nor the willingness to risk total defeat in a bid for total victory.

Silas Grosvenor sat at his side.

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