Chapter 10

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The generator stella was topped by a sheaf of focusing needles of gleamed metal in the center of the lawn. Around it, a swirl of shimmering heat swirled the shield being formed. The central funnel grew narrower and narrower, and the shield went into working mode, looking more and more like a perfect sphere woven from shimmering and gleaming glass.

"That's great! Eight seconds faster than the passport data! Your operator is unparalleled, Mrs. Diltar!" The manager looked up from his stopwatch and smiled - the demonstration was clearly going well.

Taer put the loose strand back in place - the forming shield was creating a tangible breeze around itself - and, with a sigh, said what she was expected to say:

"I think there's a credit to your technique as well."

"Saphiron is the best on the market in this segment!" The manager smiled dazzlingly again and went on another run, recounting the delights of the machine.

And the only unit you can buy on the Capeira, "right now", thought 'Mrs. Diltar' unhappily.

The games around the generator had been going on for the third hour. A wall of smiles and thoughtfulness greeted Taer's arrival, and 'Mrs. Diltar' was almost carried around on the arms. They took her to see the models, showed her three films about the company's products, gave her a deliciously good teymar, filled her in with technical details, agreed to a test run, and entertained her for the two hours it took the urgently needed field operator to arrive. But they did not quote a price for the installation. The manager of the Zonn-Mer Mission, the charming and gallant Atuya Rakem, was describing the benefits of the Saphiron. Taer agreed with him at great length and wondered how much it would cost to purchase this engineering marvel, but she received no direct answer. Instead, she was told to wait until the end of the test run.

The wind blowing from the unit subsided. The sphere of the shield stopped spinning, and the small waves that produced glittering ripples stopped shaking the surface. The shield became almost invisible, covering the clearing with a glass hood - the field stabilized and went to the mode of constant operation.

"Would you like to try out the unit in combat?" Atuya was pointing somewhere behind him.

Taer turned, following his hand, and saw a light Vortex blaster... if "light" was the word applicable to Vortexers at all. Three workers in gray overalls with the ZM emblem on the back had just rolled the platform with the blaster out of a nearby hangar and began lowering the supports. A hand-thick bundle of power ran from the vortexer's massive body to the depths of the hangars.

It was two hundred paces from the blaster to the edge of the shield. The heatwave would come weakened, of course.

But I can forget about the hair, and Rima would just kill me for having to walk through a scorched clearing.

The Field Operator had already changed into her Cassard colors, so she was wearing white, as was Taer. Rima didn't have her own uniform yet, and she flatly refused to show up in the garbage, so on her way to the test, the Master Operator raided the Blue Flame Castle, looting Taer's wardrobe and forcing the maids to "adjust it to fit".

"I think I'd better make do with a power dipstick," Taer's smile came out a little strained.

The manager, with a quick wave of his hand, called for a group of technicians who had huddled modestly near one of the hangars, trying not to attract attention. The technicians ran over, set up a tripod with a dipstick, and in a few seconds, a bright red beam shook the field. The shield at the point of impact turned opaque, deep white, and waves of shimmering ripples ran down the sides.

After a couple of minutes of testing, the generator was switched off, and the shield disbanded, giving everyone a dense wave of air as a goodbye.

Rima, who had listened with an embarrassed smile to a heap of enthusiastic compliments on the speed and beauty of the shield she had created, stood up from the operator's console and walked over to Taer.

"What do you think of my shield?" With a touch of smugness, she asked.

"You know damn well I don't know anything about it," Taer looked at her friend expressively, 'don't be a show-off'. "I'm not going to be able to tell you what the unit is like."

"Well, the unit as the unit," Rima shrugged. "It's new. It's not worn out, and the inertia is even a little lower than normal."

"Well, is it worth buying?"

"That's for you to decide, 'Mistress Diltar'," Rima smirked. "The generator's working, and the results are better than the passports. By the way, it showed almost six hundred "pvs" on the shield, and I'm not used to it yet. But whether you need it or not, that's for you to decide."

Taer sighed - now she was no longer sure that the installation was really necessary. On the other hand, it does no harm - only good, and it does the lord no harm. Encouraged by this thought, she summoned the manager, who diplomatically stepped aside while 'Mistress Diltar' spoke to her technician:

I think it's a good time to discuss the financial side of our cooperation.

"Of course, Mrs. Diltar," the manager nodded. "I suggest we discuss this more privately in our conference room while our technicians take care of the test reports."

He opened the door of the flyer in front of Taër and helped her in by giving her a gallant hand.

Even though I'm not wearing a dress and don't need help, it's still nice.

Soon they were in the meeting room - an oval room with large round windows and a large round table in the center, which was surrounded by oval-styled armchairs. And everything - the furniture walls, the trim on the chairs - was white. Taer, with her snow-white tunic, blended in with the surroundings somewhat more than she would have liked. Apart from the manager and 'Mrs. Diltar' there was no one in the meeting room.

"What do you think of the unit after the test run?" Atuya Rakem sat opposite, folding his palms together.

"My technician is pleased," Taer made a careless gesture with her hand. "I think your Saphirone is satisfactory, and I would like to know its price."

The manager thought for a moment and then answered with a sigh:

"You see, Mistress Diltar, Saphiron-level shield generators are not the sort of thing that has any one retail price. A lot depends on the history of our relationship with the buyer, some kind of established arrangement," Atuya Rakem sighed once more. "To my regret, our company has not cooperated with you before. And I hope that we will now find some arrangement that will be beneficial to both parties." He added with a smile.

"How much, though?" Taer genuinely didn't understand the reasoning behind this beating around the bush and wanted to hear some figure.

"In this sector, our company's pricing policy limits the minimum price for Saphirone to ninety-seven million danarii," the manager stopped talking and looked expressively as if waiting for something to happen.

"Does this price take into account our requirements?" For Taer, speed of delivery was paramount in the first place.

"Er... this is the base price, you must understand, Mistress Diltar, we certainly need to take into account the costs associated with the urgency of the order..." Atuya was expressively silent again. "As well as the interests of all the contractors..."

"Listen up, dear man, so how much?"

Shadows, what does he want to hear from me?! "Mistress Diltar" was already beginning to quietly lose her temper. I am, after all, a guardsman, not some peddler! What does he expect? That I'm going to start bargaining with him?!

"Um... well, I don't even know..." The manager was clearly confused and agitated. "Let's say we can come to an agreement around the figure of one hundred and thirty-five million denarii. What do you think?" Atuya looked again at Taer with a meaningful look. "With all interests taken into account, of course!"

Taer frowned. A third more expensive than expected. The Saigonians are only asking ninety-eight million for the installation, but 'right now' they don't have it and won't for the next three weeks. She leaned back in her chair, staring thoughtfully at the ceiling. On the other hand, the lord's life is more precious. And he won't get poorer. Plus, he needs to be protected right now.

The manager, who must have seen the agony of choice on Taer's face, decided to add fuel to the fire:

"Actually, Mistress Diltar, I think you understand that due to the incredible urgency of the order, the price may be increased..." he paused for a moment, looking at her questioningly, as if waiting for a clue, but then he continued without waiting. "Let's say up to one hundred and fifty million."

"WHAT?" Taer shrieked, jumping out of her chair, almost unable to hide her anger: The bastards have realized that I need it urgently, and now they are trying to squeeze the money out of me!

Seeing his customer's twisted face, Atuya backtracked:

"It was just a suggestion. We can go back to the hundred and thirty million option... with all interests taken into account, of course," he repeated the cryptic phrase for some reason.

Taher sighed: Shadows with those bloodsuckers, let them choke on it! Five more minutes of haggling like this, and we'll have to give up a billion:

"OK, we're OK with that price, but the unit has to be delivered tonight, with a deadline of overnight."

"Of course, Mrs. Diltar, the unit will be delivered in the time frame you mentioned." The manager smiled ingratiatingly and asked a leading question. "Do you have any requests for calculations that are in your party's interest?"

"No," Taer shrugged, "we're happy with the standard method."

"So you are satisfied with our usual method of payment?" Atuya Rakem's voice was clearly relieved.

"Well, yes," she was beginning to lose patience, and there was a trace of irritation in her voice, "I told you, the standard option is completely satisfactory."

"Then I would like to know how quickly you can transfer the money once the contract has been signed," the manager looked at Taer again expressively, as if hinting at something. "I think you understand, Mistress Diltar, that we will not be able to proceed with our obligations until we receive the money."

"Give me the contract to sign and the account number. You'll have the full amount in a moment," Taer opened the folder, revealing the Emerald with its ID plugged in.

Just don't let the bastard haggle again... I can't stand it. I'll smash his face in and rip everything to shreds.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Now Taer glared at Manager, waiting for some kind of trick that would allow him to bargain again. The manager's eyes widened

"You... You..."

Bastard, I'm going to punch you in the face, Taer's body tensed involuntarily.

"...You... are an amazing partner, Mistress Diltar!" The manager wasn't just glowing. He was beaming and shining with his whole body. "It's a pleasure doing business with you! I'm so glad you chose our company... I hope we won't disappoint you!"

Atuya switched on the comm and babbled in a short gibberish:

"Ilochka, a set of documents for Mistress Diltar. Immediately!" and smiled again, looking at Taer.

A few seconds later, the door opened, and a secretary (or assistant?) practically ran into the meeting room with two infoboxes and a pile of papers in her hands. The manager snatched the documents from the hands of "Ilochka":

"The contract is one hundred and thirty-five million danarii, with a due date of one day," Atuya looked expressively at Taer as if waiting for her approval. And when she nodded, he quickly wrote something in the contract and handed the two sheets to Mrs. Diltar:

"Please sign our option. The account number is in the contract."

Taer glanced quickly at the contract and, finding nothing objectionable, signed both sheets, handing one back to the manager. He handed his copy to the secretary, who flew out of the meeting room with a tap of her heels.

"When would it be convenient for you to pay, Mistress Diltar? Perhaps some tea, teymar, or wine?"

"Right now. Give me your account number - I don't remember it."

Atuya Rakem handed her an infoblock plate on which the account number was highlighted. "Mistress Diltar" quickly, wielding her stylus somewhat briskly, entered the account number and amount into her infoblock, signed, and pressed the "transfer" button, confirming the transaction by touching her finger to the sensor. Emerald fed her request with her signature and fingerprint to the bank's executive center. The signature and fingerprint seem to have satisfied the security systems to the fullest: "Executed" was displayed on the infoblock screen, and those present plunged into an anxious wait. Taer communicator beeped with a nasty beep - a call came in from the bank:

"M... Mrs. Diltar, this is Rivol Turan, branch manager of the First Mutual Bank of Copeira. A request has been received for the transfer of one hundred and thirty-five million danarii from one of the lord's Cassard accounts assigned to you.." Rivol Turan spoke confusedly and stuttered a little. It must have been agitation.

"Yes, that's a valid request. Why, is there a problem?" problems at the bank was the last thing she needed.

"No, no, not at all, Mrs Diltar! But please forgive me, it's just that in the case of such amounts, additional confirmation by your personal code is required."

"Wait," Taer muttered to the com and quickly entered her code into the infobox. "Well? Everything all right now?"

"Yes, all is well, Mistress Diltar. Your transfer request has been fulfilled. Once again, please forgive me for unnecessarily disturbing your ladyship!" The manager seemed to get so excited that he called her "ladyship".

'Her Ladyship Mistress Diltar' turned off the comm and looked up at 'The Honourable Atuya Rakem', who sat motionless and seemingly not even breathing, waiting for the translation to finish.

"The money is in your account."

The manager pressed the button on his infoblock with a trembling hand, and when he saw the updated account data, he let out a long, long sigh, wiping the sweat on his forehead with his hand:

"All is well, the money has been received. You are a fantastic business partner, Mrs. Diltar, and I am very glad you chose our company! You can rest assured that we will fulfill ALL our obligations!" he said the word "all" with a special emphasis and asked the question with a kind of incomprehensible entreaty. "Is there anything I can do for you, Mrs. Diltar?"

He's so excited and starting to repeat himself, isn't he? Taer thought wearily, getting fed up with the whole thing.

"No, I think I'll be on my way. And I expect to have the unit at my place tonight," she got up from her desk, threw the contract into the infoblock folder, and with a careless gesture, tucked it under her arm, headed resolutely for the exit.

The manager followed her, beaming with happiness and repeating incessantly:

"I assure you, Mistress Diltar, our company will fulfill all its obligations in the shortest possible time!"

In the foyer, she picked up Rima, who was chatting sweetly or flirting with three managers at once. When they were seated in the flyer, the manager, exuding streams of charm, asked Taer in passing what her favorite color was.

"Pink," she replied with undisguised sarcasm, thinking to herself: Is he hitting on me, the miserable peddler?"

In the flyer, she relaxed a little, chatting with Rima - she had been told a bunch of fresh navy news and gossip. Taer even felt something akin to nostalgia for the old days:

How much easier it was for me to be a Palang-Lieutenant, no need to negotiate and bargain with all sorts of assholes, I wasn't catched by the freaks in the SS, Countess Durlurl probably didn't even know I existed, no need to think what would happen if the lord was killed, she sighed regretfully. I didn't care about any lords at all! The only thing I could have been in danger of was a reprimand from my superiors. No, I was drawn to the higher realms!

She sighed sadly again. Rima continued to babble on about the rumored affair between Captain Glimi and Daim Evio, hinting that Dame Evio's husband was aware of it and didn't mind.

On the other hand, I'm obviously having a lot more fun here - at least there's just no time to think about who's sleeping with whom, Taer smirked and reminded herself of the pleasantries. And they pay four times as much!

After half an hour's flight, complete with casual chatter, they were outside the castle. Rima had not had time to see much on her first visit to the Blue Flame - she was in a hurry to loot her wardrobe and fly off to the trials - so Taer slowed down and put the flyer into a gentle turn, giving her a chance to admire the castle and the gardens.

The huge lake at the back of the castle glowed in the sunset rays. The weather was calm, and the surface of the water was covered with a multitude of blooming Isoris that looked like tiny sparks from above.

"It's beautiful!" Rima whispered, leaning against the window.

Taer remained silent, also captivated by the view. Then Rima turned to her with the most conspiratorial look:

"Shall we go swimming? The water must be warm..." she purred.

"In the lake? You're craz..." Taer began but was interrupted by the piercing beep of the collision warning system before she could finish.

The system simply wasn't installed on normal flyers, so it took her a few moments to figure out what was beeping. They were flying the service Isato-Planet, and luxury cars of this class are packed with all sorts of safety-related equipment, including a collision warning system. Intersecting vectors flashed on the navigation screen, and an inscription appeared: "Attention! Intersecting courses, excessive speed vector, possible collision!"

Taer ditched the vehicle to the left and turned around - a bright red sports flyer was quickly approaching from behind, clearly coming in at the rear. Various possibilities swirled in her mind - who it could be and what it would be shooting at her with. She was being chased by a coupe convertible, which meant it could be fired from anything, like a rocket launcher.

While her mind was thinking about the situation, her body reacted instantly and on automatic: the turn to the left became even steeper, the nose dropped, and the vehicle went into a steep dive, performing a "split", trying to jump under the belly of the cabriolet into its "blind" zone. The flyer went upside down, flying upside down for a few seconds, green treetops whizzing overhead, Rima and the safety system yelling as they both thought they didn't have enough altitude left to make a U-turn. She turned the vehicle back to the normal position and found her pursuer, who didn't repeat her maneuver, but took advantage of the sport flyer to make a minimum radius turn and stepped into her path, only a little way off.

Taer frantically considered what to do - her flyer was flying almost over the treetops, so there was no way to gain speed in a dive, and competing in a straight line with a sports coupe was foolish. So she swung the vehicle sharply to the right, flying behind the castle, using it as cover. The wall came within a palm of her hand, the flyer was still a bit low in the turn, and she was practically scraping her belly on the ground as she flew past the front door of the castle. At that moment, the pursuers' flier jerked out from behind the castle - its pilot must have lost control of the turn. The machine tumbled toward the ground, then suddenly froze, halted by the emergency automatics, its nose up in an awkward sort of way.

Taer drew her blaster, nodded for Rima to follow suit, and, making sure her friend had a shot at the pursuers, drove the vehicle towards the frozen red flyer.

"Surrender!" through laughter, Lord Cassard announced - he was sitting in the pilot's seat.

"Taer, you buried your talent in the ground! You could have been a fighter ace!" Baroness Rionale chuckled next to Alex in the passenger seat.

"You took a great risk, Your Lordship. What if I had opened fire?" Taer put the phaser away and climbed out of the flyer.

Jokes like two young idiots! And she didn't think too: why would someone else's flyer be over the estate?

"Ahh, don't be a killjoy!" The Baroness jumped deftly out of the flyer. The two differently directed fields of gravity and height didn't embarrass her. "I was just teaching Alex to fly the flyer, and this was an opportunity," she patted the side of the flyer, "but as for shooting, it's Faison-Osaro," she said, "You know what kind of fields it has."

The Lord straightened the car, putting it horizontally, and jumped to the ground too:

"How's procurement?"

"Successfully, my lord, the main components have already been purchased and will be delivered tonight," Taer said in an official tone.

"Are you buying something?" Kayrin asked, hugging Alex as if unintentionally.

"It's just trivial stuff," he brushed it off.

What he's secreting isn't clear - the generator stella isn't the sort of thing that's hard to spot. In fact, I see Kayrin hasn't been wasting any time!

Taer excused herself and hurried away, saying she was busy. Which was true; there was a lot of work to be done.

"Is Lord Cassard's service always this much fun?" Rima asked as they drove the flyer into the garage.

Taer grinned grimly in response:

"It's hilarious, especially with Baroness Rionale around. By the way, be careful with her. She's a bitch..." she hastened to warn her friend.

"Is she his date?"

"No, kin. Although who's to say - she has plans for Lord Cassard, so if you decide to flirt with him, look around more often."

After handing Rima over to the steward - she had yet to be housed in the castle - Taer went to her own quarters to find replacements for the flyers. She did so until late at night, interrupted only once by the arrival of the pilots and the lance.

Almost overnight, she managed to find a suitable option - a "light" transporter for worlds with high radiation. Its shield characteristics were not much inferior to the landing shuttle, and its appearance was quite decent. She was assured by the company representative that she would have the three vehicles tomorrow morning, with the contract ready for signature.

After midnight, the Zonn-Mer heavy transporter arrived with the generator. The technicians were hustling around the mounted stele in the spotlight, pushed by Rima - the start-up of the generator was not to be delayed - and Taer stood to the side, watching the commotion. She was tired but content: a clear plan of action had been devised and clearly implemented.

I'm a good girl!

After launching the installation, as the technicians were already loading back into their transporter, Atuya Rakem approached her and called her aside:

"Our company would like to offer a small gift to you and Lord Cassard in honor of the successful transaction"

The manager's voice exuded fir, and the technicians behind him were just rolling out of the transporter two sports coupe convertibles. And one of them was bright pink.

I could have said my favorite color was a black pearl, blue, or red... But - no - a heightened pest of character, Taer though aloof.

"I hope that our cooperation will grow," Atuya continued to rant, the technicians, meanwhile, drove the pink flyer towards Taer.

"Erm... Look, sir, I think it's unnecessary, and then..." she started to object but was interrupted by the manager:

"Not at all, Mrs. Diltar! You are an excellent business partner. We have never signed such contracts so easily and quickly! And it would be disrespectful to you and Lord Cassard not to thank you!"

The manager took out a stack key with a pink fob, pressed the key, and the convertible opened the boot. He made an inviting gesture. Taer walked over and peered into the boot - there was a black leather folder similar to the one she carried her Emerald in.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Performance of our company's obligations with ALL interests in mind."

Atuya undid the clasp and opened the folder without taking it out of the boot. The tight stacks of five thousand denarii gleamed dully in the darkness. Making sure Taer saw the contents, the manager quickly clasped the folder and handed her the keys to the flyer:

"As we agreed, Mistress Diltar, I hope you are satisfied with our standard payment scheme!" He was silent for a moment and then continued. "I think you understand that the contract with you was very hasty, so we simply did not have time to fulfill all our obligations in full. But I can assure you that our company will meet them as soon as possible and I will personally supervise the delivery of the accompanying equipment. Goodbye."

With these words, Atuya Rakem jumped into the vehicle, which began to slowly ascend, leaving a distraught Taer alone with a folder full of money.

Taer stood on the platform, the quiet rustle of the generator warming up could be heard in the distance, and she began to feel incomprehensible jitters - she suddenly realized how much money was in the folder.

Over a million for sure!

She started to unzip the folder to make sure she saw the correct denomination and suddenly froze, realizing what had happened.

Great shadows, it's a cashback! I, a Guardsman, an arm of Lord Cassard, took a bribe like some clerk!

She suddenly felt very hurt, almost to tears: eight years of clean service and now this. She wandered, faintly aware of what she was doing, to her room, clutching the folder.

But I didn't ask for it or even hint at it - they literally shoved it at me! It was just a cry from the soul that was cut short by a mean-spirited voice:

Well, well, that's what they all say. Barra didn't ask too, but of course, he's clean as a tear.

In her room, Taer turned on the suppressor and, without knowing why, counted the money - ten stacks of one hundred cards - five million danarii. She smiled sadly.

My wages for more than a hundred years.

Putting the money back in the folder, Taer tried not to think about it, but she couldn't - her mind was filled with more vivid images: her own ship, her being disgraced by being kicked out of the Guard. To distract herself, she showered and then tried to sleep. But her awakened conscience and Guardian honor wore her out in just over half an hour. And after another half hour, Taer, having successfully exhausted herself, made a decision: To shadows career - honor is dearer! Judging by the security terminal, the lord was awake in the study alone.

With a sigh, she took the folder with the money and, dropping her head, went to turn herself in.

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