Up Against It - M. J. Locke [69]
“Very good, sir. And there’s one more thing,” Jane said. “I’ve come up with an interesting option for you, regarding the Ogilvie & Sons ice.”
“Ah?” That got his attention.
“Upside-Down is a subsidiary of Tangent Systems Inc.,” she said.
“I’m aware of this.”
“Tangent is massive, as I’m sure you know. It’s one of the largest transnational corporations on Earth. And one of their main subsidiaries deals in military software, communications—you name it. Including artificial sapience research. They would jump through all kinds of hoops to get their hands on our critter, wrapped up in a tidy package.”
He looked thoughtful, then shook his head. “I have people already pursuing the Upside-Down angle, but it’s not optimal. They have a lot invested in us, I realize, and they’ve offered to give us a loan on the ice, to help defray costs. But they can’t help us with all Ogilvie & Sons’ ‘hidden’ costs, shall we say. Tangent’s primary business ventures are in Earthspace and the inner system. They have limited clout outside of Earth orbit. Upside-Down is the only exception. They just don’t have the leverage. Especially not as nasty as the Ogilvies can get.”
“They will change their minds when they hear about the feral. We give them the first naturally occurring feral sapient in who knows how many decades, they buy the ice from Ogilvie & Sons and give it to us. Tangent’s so big even the mob won’t be able to touch them.”
He shook his head. “Even if Tangent would be willing to, I’m afraid Ogilvie & Sons isn’t going to give up this chance to get its hooks in us. They won’t sell to them.”
“Tangent has more leverage with Ogilvie & Sons than they may realize. I read last month that a Tangent subsidiary has formed a consortium to build a new atmospheric research station on Venus.”
“So?”
“So, the shipper the consortium has hired for that project is Ogilvie & Sons,” she said.
“You think Tangent might be able to influence the Ogilvies through its Venusian research sub, by dangling the possibility of more influence in the inner system?”
“Yes.”
“A research station won’t be that big a contract, though,” he said. “And Tangent’s sub is only one of several companies involved in the deal. I can’t see how Tangent could wield that much influence. Besides which, financially, Ogilvie & Sons won’t have much at risk.”
“On the contrary. The Venus station is Ogilvie & Sons’ first real inner-system deal. It’s allowing them to get a hand in the door and set up nodes to start competing on some lucrative inner-system commerce.” She remembered Morris Ogilvie crowing about it in a press release recently. “They’ll be very anxious to play on this one, sir. And Tangent is big enough that its sub will have plenty of influence with its partners—well beyond its financial contribution to the project.”
“I see what you’re getting at.” He paused. “Our pulling the plug on ‘Stroiders’ may strain the negotiations with Tangent.”
“Possibly, but I don’t think so. Our security issues can’t be left out of the picture, and they should understand that. Besides, a new feral sapient is a huge asset. It’s like the Hope Diamond of artificial intelligence.”
“More like the hydrogen bomb. But I take your point.”
“OK, so, how about this? We could offer to allow the ‘Stroider’ recordings, and merely hold on to them—freeze transmissions temporarily. Upside-Down could have access to those once the crisis is past. I can’t see any harm to us in that. Over and above the usual annoyance factor.”
“Unless someone in our organization screws up and we end up with egg on our faces.”
“Mr. Prime Minister,” she replied, “if everything goes to hell, we’ll have egg-face no matter what.”
“True.” He laughed. “And we can always renege, if releasing the broadcasts threatens cluster security. OK, I think we have a good approach here. Thanks, Jane.”
Jane signed off, feeling better than she had in days. Phocaea’s resource crisis was near