Bonadan

South-East II Space port - "The Landing Zone" Drinking establishment




Vinda leant back into his chair as he reflected back on the days work just gone. The bar started to pick up at this hour, as both VC employees, tourists, and locals drifted in for a quick drink after finishing their work. He observed from his usual table in the corner, a cloud of Cigarra smoke obscuring him slightly, waiting on his drink to arrive.

The Landing Zone, although not a pillar of high class, was still fascinating to Vinda. It was somewhere he had always felt comfortable, he liked to watch people come and go about their business. After all this was where many bartered, sold, bought, and traded, it had a raw buzz about it. Also it was close to The Alien Quarter which meant species of all kinds made their way inside after taking care of business.
Not many noticed him there, after all not many would expect someone like Vinda to be seen in such a place. Those that did were always pleased to see him , and he enjoyed to catch up with the various regulars, which included most of the Bar - staff .

Many years had passed since he had become Bonadan's governor . In that time, Vinda had toughened down on crime in the district , which , traditionally, had always been high, though there were still elements, generally it was considered a safe place to trade. As a result his popularity was still unmatched.
Apart from the buzz of commerce within the space-port , there was also, the night-life, which Vinda had always enjoyed, right back from when he had been young. There were many old friends in the various bars and clubs, and sometimes he felt safer down here than at VC-HQ . Even in the Alien-Quarter itself , where he was the only Human allowed to conduct business there, he was well known and always heartily welcomed.

As he reflected on these thoughts, he felt a tap on his shoulder , turning around, a familiar face greeted him....

"...hi there stranger!...the usual..."

After recognising the voice, Vinda rose and smiling broadly, kissed her on the cheek in greeting...

"...Nina!..its great to see you! you've been scarce!, where have you been hiding?...I've missed your graceful company.
Service round here just hasn't been the same without your touch...
...ain't that right Laruse!

Vinda grinning hugely, glanced over to the Bar-keep, Laruse , speaking just loud enough for the the man to hear his banter...
Laruse laughed as he heard Vinda's comment....

"..bah!... maybe, but its been a damn-sight more peaceful!..."

Nina opened her mouth in an elaborate gesture of shock, and narrowed her eyes in a mock - evil stare towards the bar-keep . Noticing her reaction , Laruse laughed loudly , and turned back round to his work , casting his beer towel over his shoulder as a customer beckoned for service ...
Turning back to face Vinda, who was still smirking , Nina chuckled a little, placed Vinda's drink down before him, and took a seat opposite....

".. I had to go back home for a while , my sister was getting married, while I was there I decided to take some extended leave....much to his disappointment..."

She gestured over her shoulder , her thumb pointing back towards Laruse at the bar, Vinda laughed a little at her carcasm...and winked as he replied

"..ah..he misses you really...I bet he's been lost without you ...."

..she nodded and smiled warmly...

"..you betcha!...you shoulda seen the state of this place while I was gone"

Vinda laughed in response, rolling his eyes...

"...I did..."

Nina smiled at his reply ,watching him sip his scotch...

"...you having something to eat?..."

Vinda , paused for a moment as if considering it, then replied, obviously toying with the idea...

"...hmm..whats the special?..."

A slight smirk appeared on her face as she told him...

"...offal - waffle..."

Grimacing , Vinda shook his head...

"...er I think I'll pass!...thanks..."

Laughing loudly , Nina covered her mouth with the back of her hand, and whispered her reply...

"...good decision...."

Vinda smirked at her comment, and was about to reply , when Laruse shouted over to Nina...

"..HEY! stop harrassing the customers! ...this food ain't gonna deliver itself ya know!..."

Annoyed at being chased-up, Nina got up, and shouted back....

"...THATS A MATTER OF OPINION!..."

As Vinda laughed , she turned back to face him....

"...duty calls!..."

Smiling , Vinda nodded...

"..I know the feeling..."

He watched as Nina walked away and continued to argue with Laruse, and chuckled to himself, he had known them both for years, and despite their constant arguing , they loved each other deeply , though an outsider would never guess , he shook his head slightly as he considered this.

...funny creatures us humans....
Taking a slow drag from his Cigarra, Vinda seemed to visibly relax, it had been very busy around Vinda-Corp of late, there always seemed to be something else to do, normally he would revel in it, but tonite, he felt different, he hadn't realised exactly what how or why, until he had talked with Nina....

He needed a vacation.

Somewhere different too, somewhere he hadn't been. He absently scanned through a data-pad he had on him from work, and after programming the criteria in, he read the resulting possible destinations. He flicked from one destination to the other not really interested in any of the results, and was about to shrug off the notion, when he overheard a conversation that had just sparked up on the next table between a couple. Normally listening into peoples conversations was not something he did, (as he considered it to be very rude), but as the couple spoke he couldn't stop his ears from tuning in, as they talked with such excitement about an impending vacation they had planned.

..Oseon Flamewinds?...yes...I've heard of that...

He got up from his chair and walked over to the couple's table, after both introducing himself and apologising for 'listening in' to start with, he joined them, gesturing for another waitress to bring them some drinks, and made sure theirs was put onto his "tab"

Soon an hour passed as the couple regailed Vinda of their vacation in the Oseon system, how they had stayed in one of the most luxurious hotels they had ever seen, and had observed with delight the Yearly event of the system's "flame-wind" . A phenomenon caused by an increase in stellar flares that mix and react to the dust particles within the asteroid belt itself, people came from far and wide to witness the event.

They had loved it so much that they had decided to book leave this cycle to witness it again, Vinda listened, fascinated...

Eventually the excited and intense conversation grew to a close , the couple thanked Vinda for his hospitality, and left, leaving Vinda alone to savour the stories he had heard them talk about with such fervour .

As he downed the last of his many Scotch's for the night, he made his mind up to go and see for himself...

Bonadan

VC-HQ - Next day...



Richter Hurried to Mr Vinda's office , slightly curious as to why he had been summoned, he got the feeling it wasn't for anything bad, as Vinda himself had sounded quite cheerful..

Waiting outside patiently, he paused before an aide beckoned for him to enter.

As he approached Vinda's desk, Vinda himself was packing his black attaché leather case, and rifling through his drawers, seemingly oblivious to Richter, until glancing up with a broad grin upon his face.

"...come in! Richter!, everything under control I trust?..."

Richter nodded, slightly bemused at the question...

"..everythings going well, Sir..."

*Vinda handed Richter a Cigarra...*

"..good, thats what I like to hear, Achinta and I shall be going away for a few weeks, about three to four I believe , I need to you to look after things here until I return.."

A little curious, Richter ventured to ask, as he declined the Cigarra..

"..no problem, can I ask where it is you are you going sir?.. "

Vinda's smile broadened even more...

"..of course, We shall be seeing the sights of the Oseon system, I hear its well worth the visit this time of year..."

Richter nodded in approval..

"..ahh, I hear that too sir, well, don't worry everything will be fine..."

Vinda nodded as he promptly closed his case...

"..I'm sure it will. Since, both Miles, and Kas also have leave, I have left a list of items for you to be aware of, apart from that , everything this end is pretty much all organised.."

Richter smiled to himself..

"..ok, no problem, enjoy your time away ..."

Picking up his case, and his coat under one arm, Vinda nodded..

"..thank you Richter I shall, I'll be departing in about half-an hour , Hanger 9 , should there be anything else, if not, I shall see you upon my return..."

As he handed Richter the Data-pad , Vinda made his way out of the office, pausing for a moment, Richter glanced around the office , then down at the list of work in front of him, and sighed to himself...


...have a nice day...

Bonadan

VC-HQ - Hanger-Nine




Achinta walked around Vinda's personal shuttle, The Narcissus, the heavily customised Chrome plated ninety metre long craft , certainly stuck out for all to see. Achinta scrutinised nearly every preparation procedure that took place , whether it was the food being taken onboard, or the fuel being loaded on.

He wanted to make sure everything was perfect for when Vinda arrived. As he looked around feeling approximately ninety-nine point nine two five percent happy with all the preparations completed, he watched everyone at work, his hands clasped behind his back.

The hanger was filled with the voices of technicians and pilots, just barely audible above the low murmur of the Cruiser's engines as they warmed up.

Soon enough, a familiar voice caught his attention...

"...Ah Achinta!, everything in order?.."

Achinta simply nodded

"..excellent I have been looking forward to this..."

As the two men made their way up the Cruiser's gantry Achinta took a quick last glance around the hanger, before retracting and closing the landing gantry .

With a loud roar the craft's engines whined into life , and gradually lifted from the ground, slowly it manoeuvred its way out of the Hanger and VC-HQ itself.

Seering through the sky, the Cruiser cut an impressive sight, akin to a kind of chrome eagle soaring upwards , soon enough, it left the sanctity of Bonadan's atmosphere and into the darkness of space...

A quick lurch forward ...and the vessel launched itself into Hyper-space...

Destination:



The Oseon System....

Oseon System

Fifth Belt – Oseon 6845




A small shudder indicated that the The Narcissus had touched down, Vinda , although on holiday so to speak, was still immaculately dressed in a suit, albeit a little less formal looking. Collecting his things, he made his way out of his quarters to meet Achinta.
As he stepped down the gangway Achinta joined alongside him…

“..All the preparations have been made sir, you have been booked into the Hotel Drofo, its just across the Esplanade…I shall join you later, I have to sort out some problems with Customs and clearance ”

Vinda simply nodded, as Achinta gestured for a nearby Robo-hack..

“..the hotel sounds good..”

..As one pulled up, Achinta opened the door for Vinda to enter , a sly smile formed as he replied before closing the door..

“..it should be , it’s the most expensive round here…”

…Vinda grinned at his remark...



Forty-Five minutes later…



As Vinda entered the lobby he was greeted by a rather plump looking Twi’lek , who seemed suspiciously overly pleased to see him, he ordered two female Twi’leks to attend to the luggage , and asked for Vinda to follow him…

“…this way please…”

Vinda followed his lead, to a small turbolift ,elaborately pressing the top button on the lift’s control pad, the Twi’lek glanced towards Vinda, grinning as he spoke loudly trying to impress…

“…going up , penthouse suite…”

Vinda, who was about to roll his eyes at the exaggerated gesture, decided, instead, to go along with the pantomine , and smiled back towards the Twi’lek in acknowledgement…
After listening all the way up to how many “important” people regularly came to the hotel, He was relieved to see the doors finally slide open….

As the Hotel manager showed him to his door , he handed him the key-card to open it with… a sly smile on his face…Vinda’s eyes narrowed slightly as he noticed it…

“…enjoy your stay Mr Vinda…”

Vinda simply nodded…

“…thank you, I intend to…”

With that, the Twi’lek excused himself and left, leaving a curious Vinda, to ponder on whether the undercurrent he thought he could sense was really there…or not…

This instinct, however, turned out to be right, when, as he entered the room , his eyes were met by the sight of three Twi’lek females, skimpily dressed sitting on the edge of a huge bed… he couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle, as he locked the door behind him…


"...Good evening ladies..."

Oseon System

Fifth Belt – Oseon 6845 - Customs and excise




"...look buddy...its contraband!....which means extra duties!...."



Achinta stared down at the small , pinickity man in front of him, and rolled his eyes . Vinda's second was doing his best to resist the urge to throttle him senseless , as the customs and excise official pointed at a box of Vinda's personal supply of extremely rare , and almost priceless vintage wine he had stored onboard The Narcissus....

Although irritated at the man's pedantic comments, he responded curtly, but without losing his voice's usual coolness...

"...its not contraband its standard issue....its a bar"

The official scoffed at Achinta's response....

"standard issue!, this stuff is strong enough to incapacitate a Rancor!...I'm sorry but its two thousand credits....or instant confiscation..."

Pausing for a moment Achinta studied the official, reading between the lines, this man had not been worried about the ships weapons, or cargo, but had bee-lined straight for the onboard bar.....
...he glanced back at the box of alcohol...

"...how about five hundred, and two bottles..."

The official glanced up at Achinta, a wry smile forming...

"...one thousand five hundred..."

Achinta quickly replied...

"...five hundred, or I drink the entire contents myself right here and now..."

The man worriedly glanced up at Achinta, a trace of a scowel appearing on his face...

"...you wouldn't be able to do that!, you wouldn't dare!..."

Achinta seemed to make himself larger, and for the first time the official noticed just how tall the Vinda-Corp employee actually was ....Achinta's eyes narrowed, and moved slowly around the room in a deliberate ploy to make the official realise , that in fact , they were all alone...

"....try me ..."

The official cleared his throat a little , after picking up on Achinta's subtle hint...

"...ah...er..."

(he glanced back down to his data-pad he was gripping tightly...)

"...five, five hundred is fine, yes , that'll cover everything..."

As the official stammered and flustered a little , Achinta delved into his pocket, and retrieved the amount....
Taking it, warily, the man, backed away and picked up two of the bottles...and was about to leave when he stopped in the doorway as if wanting to say something, but after glancing back up at Achinta, apparently thought better of it, and shuffled out of the room....

Achinta smirked and shook his head, listening to the man grumble to himself as he left the ship and ultimately the Hanger.... *


....humanoids...



Hour and a Half later...


Hotel - Drofo


As Achinta strode into the lobby, he caught sight of the manager , who seemed to be eyeing him suspiciously ...

"...Can I help you?..."

Achinta looked at him straight in the eyes...

"...is is Mr Vinda still in?.."

The Twi'lek shifted slightly, as he replied cautiously...

"...yes, top floor , penthouse suite...but he's..."

Before the man could finish , Achinta interrupted and walked into the turbolift...

"...Thank you...."

As the doors closed the Twi'lek stammered in a futile attempt to finish his sentence, but after realising it was too late, his voice trailed off...

"..he's , he's ...busy......"

Watching the indicator light on the turbolift light-up for the top-floor, he shrugged his shoulders in resignation ...

Achinta, oblivious to the Twi'leks mutterings, stepped out of the lift, and walked up to Vinda's door, and was about to enter until he heard strange noises coming from inside the room, voices , and even, ( from what it sounded like ), laughter.
Curious , he entered and was met by quite an amusing sight...

Vinda, and three Twi'lek women were surrounding what seemed to be a table of some description, surrounding them a cloud of mist , as all of them appeared to be smoking Cigarra's...All of them appeared to be unaware of Achinta's presence, and completely engrossed in whatever it was they were doing, until one of the women jumped up and cheered loudly, whilst Vinda and the others groaned...

"...SABBACC!..."

Achinta couldn't help but smile a little as he watched Vinda throw his Cards down on the table in defeat...

"...Bah!...you're all a bunch of Hustlers!...."

As the others laughed in response, Vinda, as if noticing Achinta for the first time gestured for him to come over, and with a big grin slapped over his face, removed the cigarra from his mouth , and introduced his newfound gambling buddies...

"...everyone this is Achinta, my assistant....
... Achinta this is;... Olissa, Mileena, and last but not least, Syris..."

Achinta simply nodded to each as Vinda gestured to each of the girls in turn, introducing them...Vinda, turned to look at him, with a surprised look on his face...

"...is it time already?..."

Achinta, smiled and replied, still slightly bemused at the situation...

"...not quite, but while I was away I received a communicae from the Governor of the Oseon system, Mr Galdarko Mateas, himself, he has personally invited us to witness the event at his private estate, and since I believe everything begins in about an hour, we should leave now, as it will take us a while to get there..."

Nodding , Vinda , took a long drag from his Cigarra, and looked towards the girls apologetically, as he put his suit jacket back on...

"..I'm sorry ladies, but I have to go, I must thank you all for a very entertaining evening..."

Smiling broadly , he turned to face Syris, as she moaned at the fact he was leaving...

"...another time, maybe later, and we can finish the game then, besides I still want a chance to win my money back!..."

Mileena , arose from her seat and seemed to drape herself over Achinta...

"...will he be coming back with you?..."

Vinda chuckled as he replied..

"..I'm afraid you are wasting your time there Mileena, Achinta is not interested in such things..."

...Achinta turned to face Vinda raising an eyebrow at his comment...

"...Speak for yourself..."

Laughing loudly, Vinda shook his head, and after saying their goodbyes, the two made their way out of the room, and the hotel...

Oseon System

Oseon 6830 - Governor Mateas's Private Estate




As their transport pulled up outside the Governor's large , and very impressive mansion, on his own private Asteroid, the party already seemed to be in full swing. Other guests were already arriving. Both Achinta and Vinda were ushered into its grand ballroom, Vinda's eyes narrowed a little as he observed the many Diplomats, Ambassadors, politicians, businessmen, and other dignitaries. Despite being on vacation, Vinda was never one to let such a promising business opportunity slide, and as if by second nature, he mingled seamlessly into the crowd, making sure he met as many potential clients and made as many connections as possible. Although for many, Vinda , of course, needed no introduction.

Achinta stood calmly from the sides, observing all, memorising all that Vinda came into contact with. To be honest , he found the whole affair, quite fascinating to behold, an intriguiging glimpse into both humanoid and alien nature.
After what seemed like hours, Vinda returned, Cigarra in one hand, glass of scotch clutched within the other. Taking in the atmosphere he took a long satisfying drag , and smiled up towards his bodyguard...

"...what do you make of all this?..."

Achinta glanced down, and paused for a moment....

"...it appears to be a convention for the extremely wealthy..."

Vinda chuckled at the droids response, and pointed at Achinta with his Cigarra...

"...thats precisely what it is. The Governor appears to be on a fundraiser of some description, attracting more business to the system perhaps. I just happened to be chatting to one fellow entrepreneur , a Mr Zoorcrob, he made his fortune from leasing the land around here.... quite an enterprising fellow..."

Inwardly Achinta smiled, he knew where this conversation was headed, Vinda continued oblivious...

"...a profitable venture indeed..."

At that moment the bustling crowd was hushed into silence , as the Governor made his appearance, dressed in a long blue silk ceremonial robe he stepped forward onto a large elevated platform, with a large red curtain along where the wall should be. Lifting his hands to quieten the crowd, he smiled and spoke.

“…welcome friends, I thank you all for coming, and I trust you have found our hospitality exemplary, my aide, Kylos, tells me, what you have come all this way to see, is just about to begin, so without further ado…”

As the Governor stepped aside , the curtains did the same , revealing a huge Plexi-glass window overlooking the system , and the Flame-winds themselves. A collective gasp resounded around the large chamber as the onlookers admired the natural event happen before their eyes. As the huge fiery wave of rainbow coloured stellar flares and gases reacted with the systems vapours , the onlookers fell silent in awe.

Vinda watched the spectacle enthralled, only moving to occasionally take a drag on his cigarra, which by now had become second nature anyway.

As the initial moment of awe began to lift and people started to interact once again, they all did so while keeping their gaze firmly set upon the event happening before them. So taken aback at the sheer beauty of the natural occurrence Vinda didn’t notice the Governor approach him, until he cleared his throat politely. Turning to face Mateas Vinda smiled , and removed his Cigarra from his mouth as the Governor greeted him.

“..thank you for coming Mr Vinda , you honour me with your presence..”

Vinda bowed his head slightly in greeting….

“…..Governor Mateas. You caught me off-guard, I must thank you for your hospitality, it is I who feel honoured…”

As the two regarded one another for a brief moment, the Governor gestured for an aide’s attention, and indicated he wanted a drink, then turned to Vinda…

“…would you care for a drink?…”

Nodding in acknowledgement, Vinda grinned…

“…yes, a scotch, if possible…”

The aide soon returned , and after handing Vinda's drink to him, Mateas raised his glass a little as if to make a toast.

"...to present company..."

Joining him in the toast Vinda took a deep swill of the dark amber liquid , and swirled it briefly around his mouth savouring its taste. It was certainly quality scotch, and if its one thing Vinda knew about, it was what a good quality scotch tasted like.
Noting the pleased expression on Vinda's face, Mateas ventured a question...

"...have you liked what you have seen , Mr Vinda..."

Glancing up to face the tall Governor, Vinda nodded...

"..I have indeed , so much so, that I have been toying with the idea of perhaps buying some of the land here..."

Mateas looked happily surprised at this comment, and gestured for Vinda to follow him to somewhere more private, namely his study. Tilting his head to one side out of curiousity, Vinda followed, and soon, both men were exchanging stories over a couple more glasses of scotch, Vinda it seemed had made a new friend.
Pouring Vinda another drink, Mateas paused for a moment and fixed Vinda with a gaze...

"...I called this meeting today , because I am retiring, and I have to not only think about my future, but the future for the whole system..."

As Vinda allowed the Governor's words to sink in , he narrowed his eyes a little, guessing at where the conversation was heading...

"...I have met many people here today, many who could probably run this system fine, but , Oseon could do better, much better we need solid, tried and tested backing....you mentioned you were thinking of buying up land here...perhaps we could go one step further..."

Vinda leant back into the deep , brown Bantha leather chair , and regarded the Governor a moment before responding...

"...are you suggesting what I think you are suggesting , Governor..."

Mateas took a seat opposite Vinda and smiled...

"...I have talked with many people, and Vinda-Corp has always been very highly regarded, I want the Oseon system to have a lasting legacy, and from what I hear Vinda-corp has the right track record with which to provide it with the future and prosperity it needs..."

Taken aback at the Governor's forwardness, he nodded his head slowly in agreement..

"...well , I try to keep my business ventures primarily within the Corporate Sector , and it is unusual for us to branch out this far, but, if the people wish to be part of the Vinda-Corp led Corporate commonwealth of worlds, then , of course, we would be duely honoured..."

Visibly pleased at this response , Mateas picked up a small data-log from off of a nearby table and handed it to Vinda...

"...the people selected me to look after the welfare of this system, it is my opinion , that it would be best suited being looked after by people who respect this systems soverignty, and who have the necessary business skills to keep Oseons healthy economy profitable....

...I believe these people are yourselves at Vinda-Corp. On that datapad you will find our contractual and legal requirements for such a venture, these are also the points that we here feel are not open for negotiation....mainly, to do with power sharing, land use rights, etc..."

The Governor continued to speak as Vinda perused the contents intently...

“…we have always remained quite neutral throughout all of the wars this galaxy has seen…and we wish to remain that way…much like yourselves…”

Eventually , after reading all put before him, Vinda took a long satisfying drag on his cigarra, and smiled broadly…

“…well Governor…it seems we are on common ground…”

As the next three weeks progressed, Governor Mateas and Vinda personally ironed out the many main technicalities and requirements for the Oseon system to be inducted into the Vinda-Corp commonwealth of worlds. The days passed quickly, as Vinda toured and enjoyed the rest of the natural sights that the Oseon system had to offer, even going as far as to buy his own private Asteroid.

Bonadan

VC-HQ



“…he’s back…”

Came the rather ominous sounding voice over the comms. Leaning back from the computer monitor he had been stuck behind for what seemed like the past three weeks, Richter rubbed his eyes, as he responded to his secretary.

“..already?…”

”…now, now..”

Replied the secretary, clearly picking up on the subtle traces of carcasm held within Richter’s voice.

”…he’s asking for you… his office, when you are free…”

“..ok, thanks Dominika…”

Frowning slightly Richter nodded, and signed off from the comms, and took a long sip from a lukewarm cup of caff he had snagged earlier,and smiled at his secretary’s words.
Dominika had been Richter’s secretary for many years, and she knew him well, even when he was in his somewhat more difficult moods, she knew how to handle it, in fact he couldn’t have asked for a better assistant. A native of Roonadan, she had made her way to Bonadan as a refugee, a bid to find a better life, and from what Richter could see, she seemed to have done just that.

Standing up from his chair, the head of Vinda-Enterprises Incorporated , straightened his tie, and exited his office.

“…ask him how it was!…”

Dominika gushed, with a warm smile across her face. Turning to face her, Richter responded, as he walked backwards down the hallway, without acknowledging her request, but smiling at it all the same…

“…hold my calls…”

Then turning back towards the hallway , Richter made his way to the turbo-lifts.


Exiting the lifts, Richter found himself facing Achinta, who had just left Mr Vinda’s office… as the two regarded each other for a moment , Achinta smiled and nodded slightly in greeting.

“…good afternoon Mr Bayern…”

“…so you’re back then..”

Came Richter’s quick response. A little confused at whether Richter was asking a question, or merely making an observation, Achinta replied with a vague look across his face.

“..yes…”

Slapping the bodyguard on the shoulder , Richter let slip a sly grin as he began to walk away…

“…I bet you had fun…”

Missing the carcasm in the remark, Achinta nodded, and replied honestly…

“…yes I found the whole excursion quite informative …”

“…I’m sure you did…”

Richter replied smartly, smiling as he continued to walk away towards Vinda’s office, leaving Achinta to review yet another undercurrent he had just missed all by himself.



Two Hours later



Stepping through the elevator doors into the short black marbled floor of the hallway leading to his office, Richter shook his head ,laughing a little.

Noticing Richter’s bemusement, Dominika stopped what she was doing and stood to greet him…

“…how did it go?…”

“…interesting…very interesting…..we’ll be opening a new subsidary”

Richter couldn’t hide a wry smile as he handed the Data-pad Vinda had given him earlier, over to Dominika. As she began to read its contents Richter carried on speaking..

“…I don’t believe it…I don’t know how the man does it, he was supposed to be on vacation….he’s the only person I know who can go on holiday to a system, and come back owning it…”

Laughing at Richter’s comments, Dominika nodded her head slowly as she handed back the data-pad to him, and as Richter retired to his office to finalise the details of the induction and the opening of a new Vinda-Corp subsidiary. Dominika shook her head slightly, and thought aloud to herself quietly under her breath…

“…well…

…I guess we don’t need to ask whether he liked it there…”