Arthur was business wunderkind. He was shrewd negotiator, and he had preternatural ability to sniff out weaknesses in counterparts and competitors. He attracted millions of Sovereign Credits (Sc) in capital investments (something his father was too modest to ever do), and used the proceeds to buy-out one competitor after another. Those that would not sell to Fidge & Co., would be outcompeted into bankruptcy.
In only 11 years, Arthur grew his father’s small operation into the largest gas and mineral miner on Koss, employing over 300,000 people. Arthur’s meteoric rise as a mining tycoon made him a minor celebrity in the business world. Twice in the last year alone he had been featured in system wide Sovereign news broadcasts praising his achievements. Twice! No question, he was a titan of industry.
With Fidge & Co.’s operations concentrated on Koss, Arthur could not run his empire remotely from its moon. He had to be planet side. But Koss City’s residential zones didn’t offer the same quality of life, access to schools, and proximity to culture and entertainment that New Victoria did, so Arthur and Ada agreed to maintain a primary residence on New Victoria, currently in a luxury high-rise in Central Arma, as well as a modest studio apartment in Koss City’s Flatiron Resi District, which Arthur used as a pied-a-tier while working. (Flatiron was generally regarded as the best of Koss City’s four major resi districts, but Arthur still found it dreary and industrially sterile.)
At first, the couple agreed that Arthur would work 3 Sovereign Standard Days (SSDs) out of Fidge & Co.’s Arma satellite office for every 4 days he worked out of Koss City, but over the following decade, this ratio had slipped from 3:4 to 2:5, and more recently, due to Fidge & Co. acquiring and integrating Eltech Industries, Arthur hardly spent 1 day on New Victoria out of every 14.
His laser focus on building his mining empire had certainly taken its toll on Arthur’s relationship with his family, in particular Ada, who hadn’t shared Arthur’s ambitions for empire building, and who in their courtship and early marriage had grown accustomed to a certain balance of work and life. Arthur knew Ada felt blindsided by how quickly he pivoted (following his father’s untimely death) from family man to titan of industry.
And his beautiful children, the centers of his universe, how he missed them dearly. Clark and Astrid never really knew the family-man Arthur, as Clark was very young when Arthur began running the business (and Astrid wouldn’t be born for a few years), so they were fully accustomed to seldomly seeing their father. This fact did not assuage Arthur’s pangs of loneliness and guilt.
Honos was Arthur’s idea; a gift to his wife and children. After the Eltech integration was under control, he was able to spend two weeks providing his family undivided attention in a luxurious resort on the tropical paradise Inner moon. A resort that he could never have dreamed of affording as a young man on a world he could never dreamed of visiting. Now, look at him. All told, the vacation cost him a small fortune, but he loved spoiling his family, so he didn’t think twice about spending the money.
His lovely wife, though, was still upset with him.
What more could I do? he thought to himself, still gazing out of his window over the swirling sea of gases. Arthur decided he would surprise his wife by sending some extravagant jewelry (a necklace perhaps?) to her at her office today. He knew the jealousy from her coworkers as she opened her gift would cheer her up, at least for a bit. He figured he would need to include a little note, which he started to outline in his mind. Dearest Ada, you are my cosmic anchor…no…cosmic pillar…hmm, not right either.
Content with his plan, and with his guilt subsiding, Arthur resolved to head to the office. He would sort out the message to Ada later.
***
Arthur arrived at the Fidge & Co.’s headquarters, which occupied the top 20 floors of the Centri Tower in Koss City’s business district along the southeast edge of the city, slightly past 0700 SG (Standard Gesag Time). (Even though the planetary rotations of Koss were very different than those of Gesag, Fidge & Co. operated on Standard Gesag Time, as did most large corporations throughout Arcturus, as mandated by the Sovereign to facilitate inter-connectivity and trade.)
He was one of the first to arrive, so the halls, which generally buzzed with activity, were eerily calm. In fact, from the time Arthur’s private shuttle dropped him at the main entrance to when he arrived at his office on the 54th floor, he only counted precisely two human faces (and of course a handful of security androids).
Arthur’s corner office was the top floor of the Centri Tower, which provided him unobstructed views of Koss City to the north and the vibrant sea of gases to the east. On days with good visibility, Arthur could look out eastward over the horizon and faintly make out a series of his rigs (the Alpha 88-900 cluster).
Arthur sat at his metallic desk, turned on his computer, and reviewed his schedule for the day: back-to-back meetings with his senior managers beginning at 0800 with no break until 1300. At 1330 he had a lunch meeting with a competitor to discuss preliminary merger prospects, and from 1500 through the early evening, he reserved time to visit a few newly operating rigs.
With a few moments to spare before his hectic morning began, Arthur then opened a news app. The top headline read “Terrans raid Io’s Covent City; 38 civilians dead and 200 more injured.” Those goddamn mongrels, Arthur thought to himself. And Io, of all places. What were they doing all the way in there? Right under the nose of the Sovereign. What is the Sovereign going to do about these pirates? And frak, I know people on Io. Alsaad. And who was his wife? Shira, or was it Li?
Arthur was interrupted in this train of thought by a buzz on his haptic comband. Surprised by a call so early in the day, he looked at his left wrist, which revealed he was receiving a call from Mila Lockett.
Frak! Arthur’s heart started to race as he considered his options. He had been dodging calls from Mila for the last two weeks. He could continue to ignore her now, but this would only aggravate her further. Of course, when he was on Honos, billions of miles from New Victoria, he didn’t have to worry about Mila tracking him down. Now, how long until she would show up in person, with her goons, at his apartment (or worse, at his office)? A couple hours, perhaps. No, evasion was out of the question.
Buzz, buzz, buzz.
Arthur knew he needed answer, so he frantically tidied his desk, took a deep breath, and used the controls on his haptic comband to transfer the call to his office hologram.
The Penrose hologram coil above his desk came to life, whirling mechanically for an instant while it calibrated its position vis-à-vis Arthur and the nearby furniture before projecting a life-size, three-dimensional image of Mila sitting in a chair across the desk from Arthur. Mila was a handsome woman in her mid-to-late 70s with Smokey-grey hair, lightly wrinkled skin, and piercing blue eyes. Mila had a stern business-like expression on her face, and Arthur could tell instantly she was furious. Arthur had to figure out how to diffuse the tension quickly. He put on a big smile and enthusiastically greeted the hologram. “Mila! How are you?” Arthur knew how to dial up the charm when he needed to.
Mila’s stern expression did not change. She took paused for a second to regard Arthur before speaking, “Mr. Fidge. I assume you have now had sufficient time to consider our proposal. What are your thoughts?”
“Always straight to business! No bullshit. That’s why I like you, Mila. Well, the proposal,” Arthur swallowed hard and took a moment to choose his words wisely. “It’s an interesting proposal, to say the least. I’m just not sure now’s the right time. We’re still digesting the Eltech acquisition, and we have a very robust pipeline of new mining contracts we’re chewing on.”
The proposal in question was an offer by the Lockett family to invest Sc. 30 million in Fidge & Co. to fund the acquisition of a nanometals factory on the distant planet, Ukemochi. The proposal made no business sense to Arthur. There was no business case to justify Fidge & Co. spreading itself thin by entering a new industry Arthur knew little about on a planet Arthur had never been to. Of course, the Lockett family had its own business reasons for wanting access to that operation, but Arthur did not know what for certain. He did speculate, though. Perhaps a front for money-laundering or smuggling of some sort. That’s what these people were always after, wasn’t it?
The Lockett family and connected organizations were Arthur’s main financial backers. In the early months of Arthur’s tenure as President of Fidge & Co., he was seeking to raise capital to fund some his basic growth initiatives. Traditional investors turned him down, not wanting to back a greenhorn with little experience. Mila, on the other hand, embraced Arthur and made him feel like he was part of her family. Mila invested Sc. 50 million in Arthur, much more money than Fidge & Co. had earned in its collectively 30 year history to date. In exchange, Arthur would just have to turn a blind eye to the Lockett family occasionally smuggling contraband on Fidge & Co. transport shuttles. It all seemed so simple back then. The Lockett family continued to invest millions into Fidge & Co., and with each investment, the family’s tentacles sunk deeper into Arthur’s business.
Sensing Mila was not convinced, Arthur continued, “Look, Mila. It’s all hands-on-deck right now, and I don’t think…”
Mila cut in, “Listen closely, Mr. Fidge. I don’t think you understand the nature of our proposal or for that matter, the nature of our relationship. You owe the Lockett family everything, and you’ll want to consider closely the consequences of turning us down.”
Arthur was shocked. I owe them everything? He thought to himself. The nerve of her to suggest I owe them ANYTHING after I’ve made them an absolute fortune.
Arthur leaned forward towards Mila, a vein now starting to bulge in his forehead, and burst out, “How exactly do you figure I owe you anything? Sure, you saw potential in me when no one else did, and for that I am eternally grateful, but you must agree that your faith in me has been repaid many times over. I’ve already returned your investment five-fold, cash-on-cash, and I’m really just getting started. This is a prodigious return I’ve created for you. You can’t argue with that, so how exactly do you figure I owe you ‘everything’?”
For the first time in this conversation, Mila cracked a smile. It was very subtle, barely detectable to Arthur, but he was certain he saw it, and this deeply unnerved him. Mila answered, “Have you ever reflected on to what you owe your success? Do you think it was your wit that allowed you to outmaneuver some of the most sophisticated enterprises in Arcturus? Do you think seasoned business leaders with decades of experience were intimidated by a 20-something-year-old kid? We have been there at every major decision point to make sure you were in the right place at the right time. We made your competitors play ball and stay out of your way, and if they did not want to cooperate, we made them disappear. In no uncertain terms, we put you where you are now, and if you’re not cut out for the next phase of the company’s growth, we’ll replace you with someone that is. I’ve been very patient with you, but my patience is running thin, so please let me know if you’re in or you’re out”
Arthur, deflated and stunned, quietly acquiesced,
“Excellent. My lieutenants are already en route.”