ELISA ENTURI
Although some people delighted in surprises, Elisa Enturi was not one of them. Surprises were usually unpleasant, and this one was no exception. When she returned to Ulio Station and learned that clan Duquesne was offering their own ekti-X for sale, Elisa was furious.
She had recently supplied Ulio with a fuel stockpile to be used for the station’s refueling and maintenance needs. Elisa had previously negotiated terms, and now when she offered a new contract for surplus ekti-X, she was alarmed by Station Manager Felliwell’s aloof reaction. “We’re definitely interested, and you are welcome to cut your price even further to compete with another supplier.”
“Compete? No skyminer can match our price.”
“Doesn’t come from skyminers,” said Felliwell. “And this ekti-X tests out as pure and energy-dense as your own.”
That took her aback. “Where is it coming from?”
Felliwell chuckled at her surprise. “It seems someone else discovered your source, whatever it is. Roamers are good at that sort of thing, once they know an idea is possible.”
“Who?” she growled.
“Aaron Duquesne brought in a cargo load, said his first shipment was a gift to us to earn goodwill. I’m inclined to reward him for it.” He dismissed her indignation. “It’s not as if there’s too much stardrive fuel just floating around. We welcome the competition.”
Elisa felt a chill. That was exactly the sort of threat that Lee Iswander was worried about. Out in deep space, bloaters were becoming more plentiful, and once someone else figured out that they were filled with ekti, there would be a wild rush to extract as much as possible.
After leaving the Ulio central offices, Elisa moved through the station, determined to find Duquesne. As she searched, her anger dampened down to a slow burn; by the time she tracked him down in the star balcony buying drinks for strangers and newfound “best friends,” her temper was honed to a razor edge.
She strode up to confront him. Lanky Aaron Duquesne saw her, read her shock and annoyance, then intentionally leaned back in his chair, yawning as he sipped his drink.
“You’re trading in ekti-X,” she accused. “Where did you get it?”
Duquesne chuckled and gestured to his friends. “See, I told you she’d be upset.” They all laughed, which made her face burn.
At first Elisa thought—hoped—that the Duquesnes had merely hijacked a load from the Verne and that this was a limited supply, meant to provoke her. But she could tell by his expression that was not the case.
“Ms. Enturi, I’m sure you know where ekti-X comes from. The source is surprising, but as soon as someone whispered the secret to me, we had to check it out for ourselves.” He sipped his drink again. “Best decision clan Duquesne ever made!” He lowered his voice to a mock stage whisper. “But of course we need to keep it a secret, don’t we? Can’t have anyone else profiting from the discovery.”
Elisa bit her lower lip and felt helpless. She hated to feel helpless; it reminded her of when she had cringed with her family back on Earth, during the bombardment of meteors after the faeros destroyed the Moon. Her family couldn’t afford to go anywhere else for safety, so they had just huddled and hoped. Elisa never wanted to feel like that again.
“Lee Iswander made that proprietary discovery,” she said. “Ekti-X operations rightfully belong to him.”
“Rightfully belong?” Duquesne sneered. “We found a natural resource. We’re extracting a natural resource and profiting from it. And if you don’t like one other clan knowing about the source, just imagine how you’d feel if I broadcast it through the Newstation assembly hall. Oh, Speaker Ricks wants that kind of feather in his cap! The clans would love him for it.”
One of Duquesne’s comrades lifted a tall drink in a toast. “Want to join our celebration? To competition!”
“You will regret this, Aaron Duquesne. You don’t understand what’s at stake.”
“Ooh, a threat!” He laughed loudly and his expression darkened. He jabbed a finger at Elisa. “You don’t own the whole damn universe, and you’d better stop acting like you do.”
Not only was this an unforgivable grab at Iswander profits, it could also hamstring Lee Iswander’s return to prominence. As the sole provider of ekti-X, he was a very important man, but if these buffoons had somehow learned about the bloaters, what if they got drunk and blabbed about their discovery? Then the downfall would be swift.
Elisa would never allow that to happen to him. Not to Lee Iswander.
Feeling her cheeks hot, she turned and stalked out, as Aaron Duquesne and his friends continued laughing. Her instinct was to run back to the extraction field and report to Iswander what she had found, but Elisa was a person who took care of problems herself—directly.
No, she would wait in her own ship, a fast and well-armored vessel with weapons that Elisa could put to good use. She remained aboard for two days, alert, monitoring Aaron Duquesne’s ship. Waiting for him to move.
When the young man finally departed, Elisa powered up her engines, dropped away from Ulio Station, and followed him.