Things seemed even worse than I had expected. Poor Usher was like Sisyphus with the odds stacked against him. He must have understood that himself, because he gave every impression of being helpless.
‘Your competition is hitting you below the belt,’ Sander said.
Usher raised his head. ‘What do you mean?’
‘They’re fighting dirty. Show him.’
I pulled up my terminal. I opened the screen and turned it to Usher. ‘We discovered this material from a satellite base of a criminal group, called the Runners, beneath Spit City.’
‘It was Daler who found it,’ Sander said.
‘Not without help,’ I said. ‘The organisation we work for, the Sweeps, fights those guys. I just brought in some hardware, but it was the data scientists who dug this up from the mass of data.’
‘What is this?’ Usher said, and peered closer at the screen. ‘What are you implying?’
‘The president of Runcor, the majority stakeholder of Puissance Corporation, Willen Puissance, organised the hit on our father.’
Usher shook his head. He stood up and walked across the room, deep in thought. ‘I don’t believe you.’
‘It’s true, bro,’ Sander said. ‘I didn’t want to believe it either, but it’s all there.’
‘Think about his business after Father’s death,’ I said. ‘Think about our business. Think about his success in the elections. It all makes sense.’
‘I need some time to process this,’ Usher said, and pressed a button on his table. A cabinet inside one wall opened, revealing a well-stocked bar. He picked up a crystal decanter half-full of brown liquid, and three tumblers. He lay the glasses in front of us, poured us drinks, and sat down. He grabbed a glass and let out a sigh.
Sander and I picked up our glasses. The alcohol burned my throat, but it was a cosy burn. I had taken just a sip, but Usher’s and Sander’s tumblers were empty as they dropped them on the table. Usher filled them again, and said, ‘Daler, you look all grown up, a massive change since I last saw you. But looks like no one’s taught you how to drink.’
I chuckled, then finished my drink with a grimace. With a smile, Usher refilled my glass. I told him about my hundred days on the asteroid base, mentioning some things I had done (without going into the specifics), and then told him everything about Spit City and how I’d become famous inside the Sweeps for delivering the Runners’ secrets. Usher laughed at the fact that in less than two hundred days, I had already surpassed Sander in the organisation.
Sander shrugged it off by saying, ‘Too much worry with management; glad someone enjoys it.’
Usher told us how things had taken a quick southward turn. He explained how tolls and other fees for exports had risen, how the building regulations had made it prohibitively more expensive to build on the grounds of the destroyed building, and how Runore had been losing profitable production facilities to Puissance Corporation.
‘Daler,’ he said, ‘I’m glad you’ve held on as a shareholder, and that you let me use your votes while you were away. If you’d sold, the business would have succumbed to a takeover. I’ve used a sizeable chunk of the firm’s cash to buy shares from fleeing shareholders.’
‘Now you know why they’re fleeing.’
Usher sighed. ‘All the time he’s been playing me, acting so nice, saying that he believes in the industry and drives changes to benefit all the companies in mining. But behind the scenes, he’s just been helping his own.’
Sander and I both nodded. Then we sipped our drinks in silence. I was waiting for the perfect time to put forward my ideas.
‘As a president,’ Usher said, ‘Willen Puissance is untouchable. But you two, I’m sensing that touching the untouchables might be your thing. You boys got any ideas?’
I smiled; there was my chance. ‘I have the means to take care of the president and to fix Runore.’
He swivelled around. ‘How?’
‘First, we have a team of professionals ready to go.’
‘By professionals, you’re not referring to accredited accountants?’
‘No,’ I said, ‘our operations go under the radar, and our level of capability is way above what the Runners have.’
Usher grimaced and leaned forward. ‘I understand what you’re suggesting…’ He lowered his voice. ‘We need to keep this quiet. Also, the man has the best bodyguards on the planet. They’re there to protect him from professionals.’
‘I know,’ I said. ‘There are a few wrinkles we must iron out, but it is possible. But there’s more: to help Runore secure its position as the leading mining company in these parts of the galaxy, and accelerate its future growth, I propose a merger.’
Usher leaned forward and touched his chin.
‘Between Runore and the Sweeps,’ I added.
Usher said nothing. He stood up and stared into the distance. I didn’t know what he was thinking, but if I had to guess, it wasn’t positive.
Usher stepped slowly to the window. ‘I don’t think that will be possible.’
‘Why not?’ I said, and strode over. ‘We’d still keep the majority holding and thus maintain control.’
Reuna shone like a fire burning through the sand-coloured sky and drew lines on Usher’s face. ‘We would, or moreover, you would.’
‘I wouldn’t have the majority—’
‘No, but you’d be the largest shareholder, am I not right?’
There was no point in trying to deny it. ‘True, but it doesn’t mean you couldn’t be the CEO.’
‘What about Mr Pereen, and your other shareholders? What do they want?’
‘They want more resources to scale the interstellar business and see synergies with Runore. With the merger, the Sweeps could double the scale of business operations in just a hundred days—double the profits—and with the merger fully complete, quadruple them in a year.’
‘Mr Pereen…’ Usher muttered. ‘Do you trust him?’
I had expected Usher would doubt him; he didn’t know Pereen. ‘Well, if it helps at all, I trust him, and he trusts me—he even gave me a sizeable equity. And besides, look at the positives: with this merger, we would secure, in our control, one of the best undercover security agencies. Also, we would avenge our father, and in doing so, throw our competition out of the sandbox. There’s nothing for us to lose.’
Usher grunted. ‘I need to think about this.’
‘Think about what? Runore is running out of money, and there’s no improvement in sight, more to the contrary. Now is our chance.’
‘I agree with Daler,’ Sander said. ‘The merger would benefit everyone involved.’
Usher gritted his teeth. It was clear he saw the benefits, but I also sensed his reluctance, because he feared losing control: to me, to Pereen, or anyone else. A merger like that was a risk—one fully transparent mining company merging with an organisation that was the opposite of transparent. I had to have a top-notch legal advisor do the paperwork, someone who wouldn’t talk. Because of the nature of the Sweeps, I couldn’t use Runore’s lawyers, but Pereen promised to introduce me to someone he trusted at Hicks & Renner, their law firm.
I said, ‘We can ask the lawyers to draft the agreement so you’ll remain the CEO for however long. What do you say?’
He took a deep breath and rapped his nails on the tabletop. ‘I haven’t seen a better option yet, nor am I expecting one to appear soon. I just want to carry Father’s legacy without Runore becoming something it’s not.’
Sander made a gesture with his palm. ‘Below the line, bro, below the line.’
Usher eyed Sander and me as if confirming we were his brothers. Then he raised his glass, and said, ‘I’m on board. Let’s make it happen.’
Chapter Fourteen
We agreed with Pereen that the actual hit would involve none of us Tait brothers. If they caught any of us, it would be the end of Runore, and besides, none of us had the skills and the experience to execute an operation like this.
Pereen took over as
the head of operations and briefed the team. He had summoned two spaceships with half a dozen landers, and twenty elite operatives, each of whom would have a specific role in the hit.
The action would happen when the president boarded a craft from Luzasand to Penona, the second-largest city on Runcor, on the north coast. It was easy to access his schedule from the public records, and even though he was perhaps the most protected man on the planet, he had retained a lot of freedom. Despite Runcor’s location on the outskirts of the Dawn Alliance-controlled space, the planet had an easy-going culture and little unrest. Perhaps those characteristics had made it easy for Puissance to operate the way he did. He was a big fish in a small pond, and when everyone else played nice, the one who broke the rules won. But not for long.
Pereen had devised a detailed plan to capture the president—I was happy to remain unaware of the finer details—and deliver him to Karu-124 base. They would trap the president’s craft inside a spaceship that would take him off-planet and over to Neriwe system.
I wanted to get the president alive. The idea interested me more than just killing him. Death would be too easy. I wanted him to stay with me so I could watch his life crumble, just like mine did in his hands. I wanted to tell him who was behind his plight and why. Depositing him inside an asteroid to wither and die, I would have my revenge.
With the planning underway, I got a response from Tiana. I still remember every word.
You hurt me when you left. But I will join you in the Spearhead and give you a chance to explain. One chance. Tiana.
I didn’t need to think twice. I got a local concierge to organise us a table.
That night, wearing a new black suit, I arrived early, but she had made it there before me. She leaned against the bar, wearing a glimmering gold dress, perfectly suited to the occasion. It also fit her curves flawlessly, reminding me—as if I needed a reminder—of her beauty.
‘Hi,’ I said, feeling slightly awkward after all the time we had been apart.
The head waiter escorted us to a table beside the window, through which Luzasand’s lights glimmered, excluding the empty dark spot where Runore’s headquarters had been. Now the construction machines lay dormant, waiting for better times.
‘I wanted to show you I’m still your Daler.’
‘How did you get the money for this?’
‘I own a quarter of a mining company.’
‘I hear it isn’t doing that well.’
‘Minor setback; it’ll be all right soon enough.’
The waiter came by and asked for our preferences regarding the elaborate tasting menu. I was happy with whatever was to come, but Tiana wanted to change the Andron sugar pudding to something less sweet, a Baar fenda-crumble.
As the waiter left, I asked, ‘How’s the Academy of Virtuous Knowledge going?’
She glanced out the window and gave me a chance to admire the smooth chocolate skin of her neck. ‘It’s not going.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I never applied.’ She hesitated, looking over the city through the window. ‘I needed some time to think.’
‘So, what do you do now?’
She shrugged. ‘I’ve been reading a lot, getting lost in ancient history.’
‘I always thought you’d go to the Academy of Virtuous Knowledge.’
‘I thought the same about you.’ She pursed her lips.
I didn’t know what to say. She was right. I envied her life of immersion in the old times, without a worry under the warm rays of Reuna. But I knew I would never have that kind of life.
‘I shouldn’t have left like that.’
Her eyes peered into mine. ‘Why did you?’
That was a good question, but not one I could answer because I couldn’t tell her the truth about avenging my father. That would have made me look like the crook she thought I was.
‘Sander promised me riches and glory,’ I said, ‘and he kind of tricked me into going with him and then dumped me on an asteroid where I became stuck with nothing to do but jobs for the people who worked there. Now though, after almost three hundred days, I felt like I needed it. I’ve learned more in a year than in my whole life so far. Talk about fast-tracking!’
‘Still, your brother shouldn’t have done it,’ she said. ‘What exactly did you do, then?’
I had to avoid talking about the reality of the Sweeps’ operations, so I tried to make it sound like any other business. ‘I mopped the floors! But then I got to monitor interstellar freight-lines in an asteroid belt and later coordinate various corporate operations in Spit City.’
She winced at the mention of Spit City.
‘It was just a branch of the firm,’ I said, ‘and yeah, there was some crazy stuff going on in the city, but most of the time I was too busy with work to pay attention.’
I was trying to interpret her expression to determine whether or not she believed me, when the waiter interrupted us. He brought in the first dish: regonar root soup, a local tradition. It was silky smooth on the tongue.
‘Sounds like things worked out well,’ she said. ‘What brought you back?’
‘I came to help Usher. I’m a shareholder in Runore, and the company is not going too well, as you said. I’m hoping to strike a deal that could help both companies.’
I wished I could talk with her about avenging my father. Keeping the secret weighed me down. I wanted to share the news that I knew who had killed him and what we would do. But if I were to let her know, she would not understand. It was not the right time, but eventually, I would tell her.
‘That’s not the primary reason I came over.’
‘It’s not?’ she asked, and wiped the side of her mouth with a napkin.
‘No,’ I said, and took the last delicious spoonful of soup. ‘I came back because I missed you.’
She pursed her lips. It was difficult for me to read her feelings; I was never any good at that, so I just stared at her, waiting for her to say something.
‘Did you?’ she said, cocking her head to the right. ‘How come I never heard from you since you left?’
The waiter picked up the empty plates, giving me a moment to consider my response.
‘It was difficult,’ I said.
For a moment, we sat in silence. Her expression demanded more from me.
I continued, ‘I was ashamed at first, and didn’t know what to say. As time went by, it became more and more difficult to make contact. I reasoned you’d gone to the Academy of Virtuous Knowledge, and thought I would be a distraction, a blast from the past. It took me almost a year to gain the courage to come to your door.’ I swallowed. It was true; everything I said was true.
For a long while, she said nothing. The next dish, a fried Humuhumu cup-fish fillet with local mixed root puree, was lowered on to the table, along with a carafe of wine.
She sipped the wine. I didn’t, because I was waiting for her to say something. She put down the glass and met my eyes. In a soft voice, she said, ‘I missed you, too.’
I smiled, and we dug into the fish.
‘I still have the same dream, you know,’ I said, ‘and you’re part of that dream. Nothing’s changed.’
She squinted at me and pushed her black curls aside. She extended her arm on the table.
I put my hand on hers, feeling the warmth of her skin on mine.
After the dinner, I took Tiana back home, and we kissed at the door. Sparks lit a fire inside both of us, and I thought this could become something.
I never saw the face of Willen Puissance when the Sweeps operatives captured him, but I made sure to be there when he came to.
The ops had tied him down in the interrogation chamber within the Karu-124 base. His arms and legs were fastened to the wall, his suit torn, and the buttons of his white shirt ripped. He had bags under his eyes and his head drooped down.
Like the other rooms in the Karu-124 base, the interrogation chamber had stony walls painted in black and lit with small green-tinted lights on the ceiling
. Besides the president, it held only a table for utensils, now empty, and a metal drawer on one side.
The monster I had been chasing for the past year was just a man.
‘Hey,’ I said.
He twitched, then looked up. ‘Where am I?’
‘You’re at the doorstep to hell,’ I said, and punched him in the ribs with my left fist.
He yelped. Wheezing, he said, ‘What do you want?’
I stepped close to him. ‘You know me?’
‘No,’ he said, and coughed.
I sent another punch to his ribs, this time with my right.
‘Look at my face. We met at a funeral.’
He stared into my eyes, and I saw an expression of realisation. ‘You’re the young Tait.’
‘I am,’ I said. ‘Daler Tait, the name of your god tonight. Understand?’
He muttered something.
I punched him in the gut. ‘What?’
He coughed and whimpered. ‘Please, stop…’
‘You know why you’re here. Correct?’
‘No…’
I punched his face.
He wailed. Blood flowed from his nostril and bubbled forth as he coughed. ‘Your father.’
‘What about my father?’ I pulled my fist back, ready to hit him again.
‘No!’ he closed his eyes. ‘He tricked me.’
I relaxed my fist. ‘Tell me your story, and I won’t hit you.’
He cleared his throat, blood spluttering from his nostril. ‘We used to be business partners in good faith, but without my knowledge, he negotiated majority rights to my only mining asset. We had a gentleman’s agreement, but he failed to honour it, claiming we signed nothing. I lost my fortune, and I lost my family.’
He took a long pause and continued, ‘But I came back through politics, even if his company lobbied to keep me out. For a long time, they ridiculed me, but once I was running for mayor, they could see I wasn’t giving up.’
I didn’t believe him—my father was a man of integrity and would never have broken an agreement like that—but I let him continue.
Crooked Stars Page 9
