Technobabel by Stephen Kenson Read Free Book Online

position of prestige on the Court.
    Hague was a native of Europe, and his loyalties shifted between the Yamana family, who controlled Fuchi Pan-Europa, and the Villiers family, which currently controlled Fuchi North America and the corporation as a whole. He had been a compromise choice between the two camps. Osborne was loyal to Villiers and had been chosen more recently, when Richard Villiers was in a strong enough position to dictate terms to the rest of Fuchi. That, and Osborne’s reputation for getting things done, was why Fuchi—which meant Richard Villiers, these days—wanted Osborne to handle this matter rather than Hague.
    The next to enter the courtroom was Jean-Claude Priault, elder statesman and chief justice of the
Corporate Court
. He carried himself with unassailable dignity and grace even in the awkward environment of free-fall, and his fringe of gray hair was neatly trimmed in the finest European style. Priault was in the employ of Saeder-Krupp Heavy Industries and supposedly answered directly to the great dragon Lofwyr himself, who had bought the corporation with some of the riches from his fabulous horde after emerging from his centuries-long sleep. Having served on the Court longer than anyone else, Priault had certainly earned his status as Chief Justice.
    Osborne knew Priault was sharp as a monoblade and wouldn’t miss a trick. The man had a reputation for conducting court business in a fair and impartial manner and his dragon boss always seemed to back up whatever angle Priault wanted to take. Osborne knew Priault wouldn’t hand Fuchi a decision in the matter—he didn’t really have the authority for that—but she also knew that even Lofwyr and Saeder-Krupp were getting edgy about some recent Renraku developments. Priault had to know the score. If the gravity of the meeting weighed on the old man at all, he didn’t show it, making his way to his position along the bench with deliberate care and grace.
    After the Chief Justice came Mitsuhama’s court representatives. Korekado "Corey" Doi practically oozed charisma from his every pore, looking completely at ease in his fine-tailored suit, casually exchanging a joke with his companion and smiling enough to light up the room. Osborne knew from experience that Doi’s charming and cheerful demeanor concealed a cut-throat negotiator rumored to have ties with the yakuza clans, who were the real backers of Mitsuhama Computer Technologies.
    Doi’s companion, Jonathan Msaki, also served as head of one of MCT’s major subsidiaries. That kept him more closely in touch with the activities of the megacorporate giant than Doi was, but Msaki was often more concerned with his other affairs than the business of the court. Osborne noticed he tended to follow Doi’s lead on most issues and let the more charismatic MCT mouthpiece do the talking. Msaki was better at gathering information, and Osborne knew that very little escaped his notice. That was why she moved so quickly to secure Mitsuhama’s support. Doi and Msaki made a formidable team, and Mitsuhama had suffered more from Renraku’s rise in fortune than any other member of the court. Osborne suspected that she could put that to good use.
    Mariene Carstairs, the other Saeder-Krupp representative, looked distinctly unhappy about being on board the orbital. Osborne knew that Carstairs liked neither space travel nor the orbital’s zero-g environment, and she distinctly enjoyed any occasion for Carstairs’ discomfort. Mariene Carstairs had made her share of enemies in her years on the court, and Osborne counted herself among them. She knew Ono from Ares didn’t get along with Carstairs either, but it was the spectacular breakup between Mariene Carstairs and the late Renraku justice Sam Violet that Osborne was counting on.
    The two had had a tempestuous affair that went down in flames when Carstairs vindictively arranged for Violet’s wife to find out about it. Osborne suspected that Carstairs had also