The Collapsing Empire (The Interdependency #1)(31)

Donher blinked. “Ma’am?”

“You’re one of my biggest moneymakers. If you leave End, that money dries up. Logic dictates I tell you to go back to your orchards and factories and keep at it.”

“Ma’am … there’s a war on.”

“And? My people here tell me you idiots do this shit on a regular basis. In a few months you’ll all be back to life as usual.”

“Not this time, ma’am. This one is different. The duke is about to be overthrown. People who are known to be in his favor are being targeted and killed. They and their families.”

“And I suppose you are best friends with the duke, aren’t you?”

“I am frequently at court, ma’am. As is my wife, who is especially close to the duchess. We have had them to our estate on occasion.”

Kiva squinted. “But you’re not noble yourself.”

“No, ma’am.” Donher shrugged. “There was some talk of knighting me this year. My wife and I made a considerable donation to the duke’s hospital charity. But such things are up in the air right now.”

“Uh-huh.” Kiva looked this fearful little social climber up and down and figured she had his number, all right. “Four million.”

“Excuse me, ma’am?”

“You’re not just asking me for passage, Donher. You’re also asking me to let you out of your franchise deal with the House of Lagos. To abandon our income on this planet. Fine. That’ll cost you four million marks.”

“I have reached an agreement with my senior vice president to continue operations—” Donher stammered.

Kiva cut him off. “Our agreement is with you, Donher.”

“With my companies, ma’am—”

“They’re not your companies anymore,” Kiva said, cutting him off again. “You’re getting your ass out of town. We never made an agreement with whoever the fuck this senior vice president is. We don’t know if they’re competent to find their asshole with a flashlight and a map. We, the House of Lagos, are going to have to vet your company again. We are going to have to assess whether this vice president is worth doing business with. If he’s not, we are going to have to pull the franchise, which will inevitably lead to a bunch of legal stupidity and this asshole suing us, and then we are going to lose money because of it.”

“Lady Kiva, I can assure you—”

“You can’t assure me of a goddamned thing, Donher. Not anymore. You’re already off the playing board. You’re literally fucking useless to me right now. The only assurance here is money. A lot of it. In this case, four million marks. In cash, on the proverbial goddamned barrelhead. That’s the deal.”

It was interesting to watch color drain out of someone’s face. Kiva had read about it in books, but had never seen it happen in real life until now. Donher’s face went from ruddy and sweaty to pale and clammy. “I’m not sure I have that, ma’am,” he said.

“Oh, I am entirely certain that you do,” Kiva replied. “You were planning to leave the planet and never come back. You’re going to have to start somewhere else, where you have no franchise and no assurance of having prospects. The only way you and your family will survive long enough to generate those prospects is with a heaping pile of ready cash.” She stopped and considered Donher. “I’m going to guess you’ve probably got ten or fifteen million marks in a personal data crypt right now.” She pointed. “It might even be in that vest pocket right there. Am I wrong?”

Donher said nothing to this.

Kiva nodded. “Then back to business. Four million to let you out of your franchise obligations.”

“Yes, Lady Kiva.” Donher bowed, signaling that he assumed the deal had been struck.

“We’re not done,” Kiva said. “How many people are you bringing with you?”

“Myself, my wife, and our children. My wife’s mother. Two servants.”

“How many children?”

“Three. Two girls and a boy.”

“What a nice family. A half a million marks for each person we transport.”

Kiva watched the color march back into Donher’s face. “That’s outrageous!” he finally managed to sputter.

“Probably,” Kiva admitted. “But I don’t care. Your little family unit will be with us for nine months while we travel to Hub. That’s nine months of food, of oxygen, of space, on our ship.”

“That’s another four million marks!”

“Your math skills are impressive, Donher.”

“I can’t afford it.”

“Oh, well.”

“Surely we can come to some accommodation, my lady.”

Kiva laughed. “I’m sorry, did you think this was a negotiation? It’s not. You want off the planet. These are my rates. If you don’t like them, you’re welcome to look elsewhere. I understand the Tell Me Another One is departing soon.”

“Actually ma’am, it’s been detained,” Magnut said. “The duke had its captain arrested. He seems to think she allowed pirates to board the ship and take a shipment of weapons.”

“Is that so.”

“Apparently the deal was originally with the executive officer, who attempted a mutiny and failed. The captain decided to follow up on the deal with the pirates anyway. Better money. Allegedly.”