“Madam Prime Minister, it’s good to see you again.”
“It’s good to see you again as well, Mr. Ambassador. I must say, you are looking much more rested than yesterday.”
“Yes, ma’am. It’s difficult for me to get a good night’s sleep in zero gravity. And I was remiss yesterday in introducing my companions. Mr. Gerardo Perez is the representative to Aruba for Jixing Trading Company, and Mr. Gavin McKay is our pilot.”
“It’s good to see you again, gentlemen. And this is my chief of staff, Sanjay Patel.”
There were hellos and handshakes all around, and then they all settled into their seats at the table.
“Before anything else, Madam Prime Minister, allow me to present my credentials.”
Dunhill passed the document naming him the duly appointed and confirmed ambassador to Aruba to Pakson.
“Thank you, Mr. Ambassador.”
“I also have gifts for you from your counterparts on Arcadia, Earthsea, and Amber.”
As he named each, Dunhill produced a wooden presentation box of the Chens’ Walnut tea; a gift-wrapped drum-shaped box of Earthsea cheese, and a vacuum-packed, sealed-foil package of Amber coffee. He pushed them across the table to Plakson.
“Why, thank you, Mr. Ambassador. How thoughtful of them.”
She turned to the head waiter standing nearby. He was an employee of the hotel, but the Prime Minister was the Prime Minister.
“Could you please see to it these are served with our luncheon?” Plakson asked.
“Of course, madam.”
He handed them off to an assistant and remained.
“I think business can wait until after lunch, Mr. Ambassador. Is that OK with you?”
“Of course, Madam Prime Minister.”
Plakson turned to the head waiter and simply nodded. Wait staff brought in the salad course, accompanied by bread and spreads. The conversation continued between mouthfuls.
“So Arcadia discovered hyperspace, Mr. Ambassador?”
“Yes, Madam Prime Minister. We have been working on first the theoretical framework and then the actual hardware for over twenty years. Mr. Perez had a hand in constructing the hardware.”
“I supervised the construction of the vessel we arrived in, ma’am,” Perez said.
“And for five thousand light-years, it took ten weeks, Mr. Ambassador?”
“Yes, Madam Prime Minister. We can manage just a bit over three light-years per hour in hyperspace. That seems extremely fast – and it is – but long distances still take time.”
“All in zero gravity, Mr. Ambassador?”
“Yes, Madam Prime Minister. Although we have solved that problem in the vessels we are building now. The vessel itself spins while it travels, providing some semblance of gravity during the voyage. I believe it is planned for about half a gravity. But that vessel is four hundred feet in diameter. Our shuttle is too small to use such a mechanism.”
“I see, Mr. Ambassador. I saw the ships in the video you sent us. Very impressive.”
“And they’re real, Madam Prime Minister. Those video shots were camera images, not a simulation.”
The salad plates were whisked away and the entrees appeared. Some sort of beef cut, very tender, with fried potato wedges and a vegetable medley on the side. Served with them was a small plate of cheese wedges for each, as well as a cup of tea.
Plakson nibbled on a wedge of cheese and her eyebrows shot up. She closed her eyes and concentrated on savoring it.
“This cheese, Mr. Ambassador, is wonderful.”
“Yes, Madam Prime Minister. I believe Earthsea is gearing up its production capacity now in anticipation of the export market.”
Plakson took a sip of the tea.
“And as well for the tea, Mr. Ambassador. I have never been much of a tea drinker, but that may have to change.”
“Indeed,” Sanjay Patel said. “Very tasty. Both of them.”
The conversation died away as they set to the entrees. The beef was very good, even if the sauce was a little bland by Arcadia standards. The Chens’ spices would be welcome here as well, Dunhill thought.
When they were finished with the entrees, dessert was served. It was a chocolate layer cake, with chocolate frosting, served with coffee. Dunhill took a bit of the cake and sat stunned. He loved chocolate, but this was extraordinary.
“And now you show us your export specialty, Madam Prime Minister. I was a chocolate lover already, but this cake raises that to a whole new level.”
Dunhill sipped his coffee, as did Plakson. He had had Amber coffee once before, on Earthsea, from Sasha Ivanov’s private stash. It was Plakson’s first time.
“And this coffee is superlative, Mr. Ambassador. Chocolate cake with coffee may become an Aruba staple if coffee of this quality becomes available.”
Dunhill simply nodded and applied his attention to the cake. Plakson chuckled.
Finally, with dessert dishes swept away and coffee cups refilled, Plakson folded her hands on the table before her.
“And so we come to business, Mr. Ambassador. You spent ten weeks in a closet with no gravity to get here. Why? What is your mission?”
“It is actually three-fold, Madam Prime Minister. The first is to install quantum-entanglement radios on your planet, to tie you in to the rest of the colony planet network. This will enable zero-delay communications between you and the other six colony planets we have already so equipped.”
“The video said you were bringing these radios with you, Mr. Ambassador.”
“Indeed, Madam Prime Minister. They occupy two of the containers on our shuttle. This will allow you to discuss matters with regard to the trade agreement with Arcadia Prime Minister Rob Milbank and your other peers.
“The second goal of my mission here is to introduce you to the trade agreement which has already been signed by those six colony planets, and which we will offer to the other colony planets as we make contact with them. I would expect that actually signing on to the trade agreement, were you to do so, would come after you had a chance to discuss it with your peers.”
Plakson nodded. Sensible.
“The third goal of my mission here is to put Mr. Perez in contact with your engineering people, Madam Prime Minister. He has brought along the plans for an interstellar freight station which we would hope to build in Aruba orbit.”
Plakson’s eyebrows rose.
“You have offered such a station to the other planets as well, Mr. Ambassador?”
“No, Madam Prime Minister. On the medium term, we anticipate two such stations. One here at Aruba and one at Arcadia. I don’t know if you’re aware, but an examination of a map of colony locations, strung as they are across three arms of the galaxy, reveals that Arcadia and Aruba have unique astrographic advantages.”
Plakson nodded.
“Yes, Mr. Ambassador. We sit between the arms, a natural waypoint for arm-to-arm traffic.”
“Correct, Madam Prime Minister. And a natural hub for hub-and-spoke freight traffic. Hence a freight transfer station. Such a station makes loading and unloading ships much faster, and demurrage on the ships in port is a major cost in the slim-margins business of interstellar shipping.
“Mr. McKay can speak to the difficulties of loading and unloading ships with shuttles.”
Plakson turned to McKay.
“Yes, ma’am,” McKay said. “The problem has three aspects. One is that a shuttle can only carry eight or twelve loaded containers at a time. So a limited number of shuttles takes a very long time to transfer several thousand containers to orbit.”
“Several thousand containers, Mr. McKay.”
“Yes, ma’am. The hyperspace liners have a capacity of thirty-eight hundred containers.”
“I see. Continue, Mr. McKay.”
“Yes, ma’am. The second thing is that openings on the ship must be created before outbound containers can be loaded. So one has containers floating around loose in orbit that have to be maneuvered around until one can get the outbound containers loaded, freeing up the shuttle to go chasing after the loose ones.
“And third, one simply can’t add more shuttles to speed up the process because they get in each other’s way. Only so many shuttles can simultaneously maneuver around the ship without a major incident.”
“I see. And you have personal experience of this, Mr. McKay?”
“Yes, ma’am. I’ve flown hundreds of missions up to the hyperspace liners being outfitted in orbit around Arcadia. Ferrying workers and supplies. A much less intense effort than unloading and loading, and we had to be very careful not to get in each other’s way as it was.”
“I see. Thank you, Mr. McKay.”
McKay nodded and Plakson turned to Sanjay Patel.
“Sanjay?” she asked.
“I think we should begin all these things, ma’am. Installing the radios, looking at the specific wording of the agreement, and reviewing Mr. Perez’s plans.”
“Agreed,” Plakson said, and turned to Dunhill. “All right, Mr. Ambassador. Let’s get things under way.”
“Of course, Madam Prime Minister. I’m sending you the trade agreement text now.”
“What do you think, Sanjay?” Plakson asked.
“The trade agreement is as simple as advertised, ma’am. Which is something of a shock, to be honest.”
Plakson nodded.
“And the freight transfer station?”
“That would be a tremendous coup, ma’am. It is the sort of thing we might build ourselves, to attract the freight traffic. But Jixing Trading proposes to build it themselves, with loans from the Arcadia government, and pay the loans off from freight revenue.”
“Of course, a lot of the potential expense is being born by their automated construction capability in their shipyard, wherever that is.”
“Yes, ma’am. You noticed, of course, that they’re being a little cagey about where that is located, but I can make some guesses. In any case, to turn them down on building it here, at their own expense, would be, in my view, a major mistake.”
“It will be controlled by them, though, Sanjay.”
“It will be controlled by Jixing Trading, ma’am, which will become an interstellar company very quickly. This CEO of theirs – Chen ChaoLi – is pure business, as was clear from her interview.”
Plakson nodded. That was her view as well.
“So how do we induce Mr. Stanford and his minority to jump the wrong way on this, Sanjay?”
“Rob Milbank here.”
“Hello, Mr. Prime Minister. Aruba Prime Minister Mildred Plakson here.”
“Yes, Madam Prime Minister. It’s very good to speak with you.”
“Let’s drop all the titles, Mr. Prime Minister. Mr. Dunhill and I have already done that on this end. Call me Milly.”
“And I’m Rob, Milly.”
“Very good, Rob. I’m calling to advise you of our status here on Aruba.”
“Very well, Milly. Peter said there was some hold-up on your end.”
“Not really, Rob. We’re in the middle of an election here. I’m sure you appreciate the implications of that.”
“I do indeed, Milly. I’ve been through a few of those myself.”
“Yes, Rob. Peter told me. So we’ve managed to get the other side to jump the wrong way on this whole interstellar trade agreement. They’re bleating the whole nine yards now, about Arcadian imperialism, and foreign control of Aruba’s freight station, and squandering our natural advantages of location.”
“Oh, they’ve jumped in with both feet, haven’t they?”
“Yes, and I’ve waited for them to commit hard enough they can’t reverse themselves. We’re about to begin the counter-offensive now.”
Milbank chuckled. He’d played enough of these games over the years to appreciate Plakson’s strategy.
“What’s your big play, Milly?”
“Two-fold. I’m going to open up the QE radio network to universal access here. Turn the big, scary Them the minority is declaiming into ‘those nice people on the other planets.’”
“That should help, Milly.”
“I think so, too. And then I’m going to have a big tea, coffee, and cheese party.”
“Do you have enough of them for that, Milly?”
“Rob, you sent us a hundred and forty thousand pounds of cheese and almost four thousand cubic feet of both tea and coffee in that one container.”
Milbank nodded.
“I had a cheese-tasting party to great effect here last year.”
“Yes. My chief of staff saw that in your news archives and pointed it out to me. That’s where I got the idea.”
“One thing about opening up the network, Milly. Will Arcadia’s lack of a nudity taboo be a problem?”
“Not really. On Aruba, all our beaches are clothing optional, and most Arubans do without swimming suits when at the beach. That isn’t everywhere, like Arcadia, but it’s not shocking. I wonder you haven’t had problems with that on other planets, though.”
“We actually did, Milly. A little at least. So you think you’ll come out on top in the upcoming elections?”
“Yes. I expect to expand my majority, actually. Our private polling indicates the public will break for free trade, not against it.”
“Excellent. Please keep me informed.”
“I will, Rob. I just wanted to let you know why there might be a little delay. It’s tactical, on my end. We’re already decided.”
Plakson’s tea, cheese, and coffee party was a huge success. They closed off traffic in the downtown area of Barcelona and the streets were full of people. They actually ran out of cheese about three hours in, though the coffee and tea flowed throughout the afternoon and into the evening.
Public opinion swung heavily toward free trade, and Terry Stanford’s minority party took a drubbing at the polls. Plakson extended her majority in both houses of the parliament, and signed the free trade agreement with Peter Dunhill in a public ceremony that was carried on the news wires.
Peter Dunhill was in heaven becoming an aficionado of Aruba chocolate, and Gerry Perez was up to his elbows planning the interstellar freight station with Aruba’s civil engineering community. They had some good ideas about minor enhancements to Wayne Porter’s design, which they were enthusiastic about. Perez sent those ideas back to the design group on Arcadia.
When it was time for Hyper-2 to leave for Arcadia, Gavin McKay found himself sharing the cockpit with Aruba’s new ambassador to Arcadia and his aide for the ten-week transit.