Privateer's Moon by Gerald Hall

Author:Gerald Hall [Hall, Gerald]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-11-28T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty Nine:

Belair Syndicate Headquarters

Proxima Centauri B

Proxima Centauri Star System

The Chief Operations Officer of the Belair Corporate Syndicate, Lindsey Buckman, was coldly livid that afternoon after she received word of the most recent attacks upon her Syndicate’s outposts and shipping. Lindsey was not the sort of person that you wanted angry with you either.

The COO was perhaps 1.7 meters tall, slender and with an angular face framed by shoulder-length curly brown hair, so by conventional standards Lindsey was reasonably attractive. But she had not reached her position in her mid-forties by her appearance. Lindsey had done so with an insightful ruthlessness that few of her male counterparts matched. She had also been brilliant in her utilization of assets in achieving her goals. No one dared crossed swords with her either. Lindsey left far too many bodies on her way to the top of the Syndicate ladder. To many of the people around her, Lindsey was arrogant, haughty and proud. But she succeeded in her objectives when many others had failed. This was why she sat in that chair in that Belair Syndicate Headquarters corner office.

“We have had far too many failures in our recent operations against our rivals. What the hell is going on here?” She demanded as she lit a cigarette and deeply sucked in its smoke. Smoking had gone out of fashion in many parts of inhabited space. But for some of the elite, tobacco use had made a comeback. It was the wealthy’s way of saying that their money bought them virtual immortality, even from the most lethal of vices that they had the freedom to enjoy.

“We have continued to apply economic and more aggressive means to convince Libertad, the Kepler colonies and several of the independent colonies as per your instructions, Ma’am.” Martin Peel, the Syndicate vice-president for corporate acquisitions.

“But you have failed miserably in your efforts, Mister Peel.” Lindsey said amidst a growing cloud of grey acrid-smelling tobacco smoke.

“Ma’am, we have had a run of very bad luck.”

“Luck is not a factor, Mister Peel. If you have done your job properly, you will succeed in your mission. You know that!” Lindsey harshly replied.

“Ma’am, those religious fanatics on Libertad absolutely refuse to allow any mining concessions on their world at all. They control all of the orbitals in their star system with multiple heavily armed defense platforms. So, we cannot force our way in, even with armed ships. All of Libertad’s merchant ships are also too well-defended to be easily threatened or interdicted.

On another matter, I know that you have authorized the use of armed action against the various Kepler colonies. At first, we achieved a certain degree of success, especially considering the limited size of the typical Kepler colony’s naval forces. But at least one of them has not only declared a legal conflict against us, but also hired a company named Martinson Mercantile Group to support them.”

“Your point, Mister Peel. So far, all that I have heard are excuses. I know of the difficulties with Libertad.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.