Dark Space - Marianne de Pierres [98]
‘They use land barges to transport their ore, or rent space on the conveyors.’
‘So indeed your family has the monopoly?’
Tekton’s provocation caused Marchella no embarrassment. ‘The Cipriano Clan purchased Araldis after seeing the assay reports from the first exploration ships in this area. The Pellegrinis are the most powerful of the Araldis Ciprianos, the royal family. It is ... our planet.’
‘And what would it take for me to convince you that an exclusive minerals contract with me would be in the interest of the Pellegrinis’ great name?’
‘Orion lucre,’ Marchella said quickly and bluntly.
We have her! Tekton’s free-mind sang joyously, drunk on the proximity of the minerals and the unbridling effect of the wine. ‘That is something I am in a position to offer.’
‘What minerals do you want?’
‘Only one little mine, Marchella. It is named Juanita, I believe.’
‘Oh?’
‘The one that produces a quantity of quixite.’
Marchella nodded thoughtfully. ‘Our financiers will negotiate with you on that issue, God-Tekton. But, if you’ll pardon my frankness, there are others bidding for the same alloy.’
‘May I enquire who that may be?’
‘You know that I cannot disclose who bids against you.’
Tekton inclined his head, his logic-mind running lists of possible competitors. Or perhaps there were none. Perhaps she had more negotiating finesse than he thought. ‘Is there nothing that might convince you to short-cut this…this…bargaining?’
‘Unlikely.’ Marchella shook her head, showering him with the musky perfume of her velum. ‘Though there is one small thing that would gain you favour in the bidding.’
Tekton’s arousal became painful again. Marchella was indeed much less naive than he thought. Desire began to agitate the waters of his akula. He reclined into the envelope of his seat, giving her the full benefit of his arousal.
‘Which would be?’
‘You are tyro to the Sole Entity?’
‘Yes.’
‘I…that is, we want one of our familia to be admitted to Belle-Monde to undergo testing by the Entity.’
Tekton hid his surprise: such ambition for a backwater family with no scholarship. ‘But only the very brilliant are chosen.’
‘And you do not think there could be one so brilliant among us Latinos?’
‘No need to take offence, ambassadress.’
‘No offence taken, God-Tekton. But this point would be, in brutal parlance, a deal-breaker.’
Tekton’s minds streamed alongside each other, considering her request. Perhaps his influence stretched far enough to give Marchella what she was asking for. If it meant he could get what he wanted, Tekton would do almost anything.
Unconsciously he stroked himself, exhilarated. Araldis called to him. He wanted to land the AiV and rub the dirt on his skin, taste it in his mouth. He wanted to ingest this planet and build from its lifeblood the greatest-ever structures. ‘Then perhaps it could be arranged, Marchella, once the terms of export are agreed. Do you have one person in mind?’
Her expression softened—a peculiar juxtaposition in her square, pragmatic face. ‘I do.’
Marchella’s words resonated deep inside him as though significant in the scheme of things. Tekton pondered them and his future. ‘Then I would say we are close to a deal.’
He reached out a hand to touch her. The texture of Marchella’s skin on his felt rough in comparison to that of a Lostolian female—and yet not unpleasant. He smelled the light perspiration on her brow, could feel the minerals she sweated from her skin.
She withdrew from his grasp and he felt an instant loss.
‘God-Tekton?’ she said.
‘There is one other thing I would also have, which would be, to use your words, a deal-breaker.’
‘Si?’ Marchella gave him a look of earnest enquiry.
With the confidence of one used to getting his own way, Tekton reached for her, running his tongue along the side of her face, tasting the bitterness of iron and the tang of copper. He then shuddered into a seated position and pulled her down to him. With her face pushed to his thighs, he sent his logic-mind diving under the sea of his akula and began building magnificent cathedrals in his free-mind.
* *