Smuggler's Dilemma by Jamie McFarlane Read Free Book Online Page A

He’s a romantic and knows this is a good price. He gets to trade out something he hasn’t been able to sell in forever for a modern frigate worth a couple of million - once he fixes the engines. You up for a trip, Jake?" I asked.
    "Let’s do it," he answered.
    I didn’t even ping Wally. In my mind, if Weird Wally was one thing, he was passionate about life. His dramatic presentation of the ship, detailed stories and even his appeals to my sense of adventure were dead giveaways. I knew he was a shrewd business manager and was convinced he would have at least a hundred thousand credits of wiggle room. I just needed to get him to give it up.
    "Mr. Berandor and Mr. Hoffen together. I suddenly feel outnumbered," he said with a smile when we strode into his office. I didn’t believe for a moment that he was even remotely concerned. "How can I help you?"
    I started out as professionally as I could. "Mr. Waldorf, I appreciate your willingness to meet with us on such short notice. I’m sure your time is valuable, but wanted to impress upon you just how seriously we are considering your offer by coming to see you personally. Before we get to that, however, I was wondering if you had a moment where I could show you a short video sequence?"
    This got his attention. "What sort of video?"
    "Well, I was putting myself in your shoes and thinking about what we could bring to the table to help you add value to the frigate," I said.
    "That’s a lot to ask from a video. But I do like your optimism." He gestured to the back wall. "Join me in my office, would you?"
    He darkened the room and the three of us sat in chairs facing one of the blank office walls. A large vid-screen appeared, brightening the room.
    "If a person is looking to purchase a frigate such as this, I believe they will want a demonstration as to its raw power. As you know, a frigate is most powerful when at broadside. There is also not very much video available from the perspective of the frigate’s foe, because as you know, its wrath is complete in its destructive power." I was hamming it up, but it felt like a good story. "So, to the extent a picture is worth a thousand words, I’ll let you be the judge of the value of this sequence."
    The video started, showing Tali and me running pell-mell through the Jeratorn docking bay for Sterra’s Gift , the nose of the frigate just entering into the picture from left to right through the end of the docking bay. I’d chosen some suspenseful music and flashed back to the engines of our ship starting to fire up, just about the same time the frigate started letting loose its terrible broadside. I followed Sterra’s Gift out of the end of the docking bay, concentrating on the damage being done to the station. The video then showed two missiles being launched from Sterra’s Gift streaking toward the frigate, contact imminent, when it activated its anti-missile counter measures, thwarting the missiles, leaving the frigate unscathed. I had spliced together an ending scene where Sterra’s Gift was sent tumbling, broken, away from the frigate to end the piece.
    Wally clapped his hands together as the lights came back up. "Oh what a wonderful piece of fiction you’ve assembled," he said.
    He had me, I’d put in that last piece, but I felt like it was best not to show that we’d taken the frigate down by disabling its engines. "Okay, you’ve got me there. That last scene came at a different time, but everything up to that point, I can assure you, happened just as it was shown. That sequence was constructed from our actual combat data streams."
    "You don’t say. And you’d submit those streams for validation?" he asked.
    "Of course. We earned 'em, might as well get something out of them," I answered.
    "Excellent setting, my friend. I do love a showman. So what is your counter then?"
    I pinched the contract that Nick had modified and flung it to him. "You do seem rather proud of your video, Mr. Hoffen. I’m not sure that’s