Regan's Reach 4: Avarice by Mark G Brewer Read Free Book Online

The conference room of Tihan Orbital Palace
was very familiar; however it had been some time since she had seen Tihan
present himself as an avatar sage. Whenever Ham was present Tihan would
normally choose the young soldier form in a mark of respect to the older Mind.
But not today, and Regan could sense the chosen form was partly for her but
also because in this visage Tihan felt most confident and comfortable. She
leant across the conference table and extended her hand which he reached for
and took gratefully; drawing something from her and sucking it in like a tonic.
    She exuded love and confidence to the Orbital
Mind and he seemed to swell as she did so, finally taking what looked to all
appearances to be an impossible breath and exhaling whatever tension he had
felt. Regan sat back in her chair and waited.
    "Thank you for coming Regan, I am
uncomfortable about this but I need advice from you, and urgently." Tihan
shuddered with embarrassment as he spoke.
    "Yes, your message indicated problems
but you have no need to be embarrassed, if that is your concern."
    The sage seemed to deflate for a second
before bracing his hands on the table and gathering strength.
    "On the contrary mistress, I have
every reason for embarrassment and shame, I have gambled and lost, and now the
very independence of my Orbital is at stake. Regan, it is your business advice
I need, before everything is exposed to the system."
    As he spoke Regan could sense Ham's
departure, a sliding sensation as he drifted away with Tihan completely
oblivious. She remained neutral about Ham's departure, instead radiating
concern to the sage. "My good friend, tell me - what has happened?"
    His head sagged in despair. "What has
happened, dear Regan, is that I have found there are more ways to lose an Orbital
than by force of arms. On my recommendation we gambled heavily on alternative
forms of energy. Reubus has quite legitimately purchased all the main refiners
of exotic matter in this system, something he's been working on for some time. Although
I saw it happening I gambled that our own developments in alternative energy
would make that market redundant. Regan, we are making progress on our
developments but too slowly, and in the meantime we are drastically exposed. We
still need exotic insertion tubes but the price has soared and now we're
heavily in debt. Thankfully Reubus has been very generous, offering reasonable
credit for a share of our developments and trading debt for equity in Orbital
businesses. But the net result is we could end up owning nothing of note in our
own realm. Even business owners who owe nothing are tempted to sell out at the
prices Reubus is prepared and able to offer. Many are taking the funds and
planning on joining the rush to your system, or even trying to buy their way to
Rigel."
    Regan frowned at that. "Well that's
not going to work; we're not selling tickets to Rigel, and it's not what going
there is all about." She hesitated while thinking about what he had said;
more talk here would be fruitless she knew.
    "Tihan, do you want me to talk to Reubus
on your behalf, I'm sure he isn’t aiming to take over, why would he?"
    "I agree Regan, he has only been
helpful and he assures me he has no such aims. Of course he would never actually
own Tihan Orbital, but Regan, if we don't control our own energy, or our key
industries, well," and his gestures indicated resignation, ". . .
then we don't control our own destiny."
    Regan stood and began to pace the room.
Tihan followed her movements with a desperate look as if he hoped she would
produce some miracle. She stopped suddenly, a thought occurring to her.
     "Are the other Orbitals affected like
this?"
    Tihan shrugged. "I manage Cora Orbital
as you know, they have less demand for the energy but in time, as they expand
those demands or need to replace exotic matter tubes of course they will face
the same issues. Acura and Fifino seem to have some arrangement with Reubus. I
don't know the