Space Living (EarthCent Universe Book 4) by E. M. Foner

Author:E. M. Foner [Foner, E. M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Foner Books
Published: 2020-11-05T06:00:00+00:00

Twelve

“I’m Dianne from the Galactic Free Press,” the reporter introduced herself. “Thank you for agreeing to meet with me.”

“Samuel McAllister, I don’t have an official job title yet. Vivian was here a minute ago, but she just realized that the coffee Flower stocked in our kitchen is all decaffeinated, so she ran out to get some real beans for us.”

“That works for me,” the reporter said. “It’s going to be exciting with the headquarters for the Human Empire on board. I haven’t submitted a story worthy of the front page in two years.”

“We haven’t made any decisions about that yet,” Samuel said, though he realized how odd that must sound given the luxurious office suite with the Human Empire emblem literally carved in stone. “All of this is just an example of aggressive salesmanship on the part of our hostess.”

“Flower does try to be proactive,” Dianne said. “So do you mind if I take a few images over my implant? Your office is very impressive.”

“You mean the book collection.” Samuel reddened. “Flower had them all brought in overnight and we haven’t decided what to do about it yet. I can’t even read any of those languages, other than Vergallian. It reminds me of when my mom’s embassy sponsored a charity book sale on Union Station. Some of the aliens were buying books by weight to use for interior decorating. On the bright side, most of the academic monographs would have ended up in recycling otherwise.”

“I won’t use the images if the collection is just random nonsense,” the reporter said. “I’ll ask somebody at the paper to check.”

“The Vergallian titles are all legal books and treatises on governing, mainly written for queens. The only English titles Flower thought worth stocking are from the For Humans collection.”

“That’s even better then,” Dianne said, spotting the distinctive spines of the trademarked series. “They’re published by a division of the Galactic Free Press so it’s good publicity for us. Did Flower pick out the furniture as well?”

“Initially she did, but Vivian made her take most of it back, and then insisted I go shopping with her,” Samuel said, looking even more embarrassed. “This desk cost more than I saved working for the Vergallian embassy last year.”

“Well, I did hear that the Human Empire is backed by the All Species Cookbook, so I don’t imagine a little splurge on office furnishings is going to hurt.”

“Vivian paid for the new furniture herself. She says if we get fired, we can take it with us and start a new business.”

“That’s right,” Vivian announced her presence from the door. “If the Human Empire gets into financial trouble, we’ll move out the furniture we own and replace it with rentals from Flower. I’m going to put the coffee on but I’ll be back in a minute. Do you take anything in yours, Dianne?”

“One sugar,” the reporter replied, and Vivian disappeared again. “She seems to know a lot about business. I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

“Her brother and my sister are pretty sharp too,” Samuel said.

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