Costamallor, Levante — Havenic Territories
"Director, the Imbrinium delegation landed ten minutes ago. ETA for arrival is about forty-five." Ana was a young, pretty secretary with a nice, big rack. Described like that, she was a lot like the five previous secretaries Darajo Candac had been "forced" to let go. Looking the way they did, he found each and every one of them irresistible, and his hands followed his mind (not the one in his head, mind you). But, each and every time, he had to get rid of them, because in his position you just couldn't have a secretary who's also your girlfriend. It just doesn't work out. Darajo had found that out the hard way with the first woman. Vega De La Luz was her name, a local with a voluptuous rear end, and she lasted one year — she held the record, so far. After the n-teenth public fight in the office, Darajo basically fired and dumped her simultaneously. It was harsh. With that in mind, maybe he'd stay away from Ana, knowing that nothing good ever came of sleeping with his secretaries. He had better guard that reputation of a mysoginist, anyways, in this dawning age of "gender equality" and "feminism," less it catch up to him in the future.
"Thank you, Ana," he replied. "Do me a favor and alert the reception party at the main gates. Make sure they're all pretty close to done with their preparations. Tell them that I want them to be ready and waiting twenty minutes prior to the arrival of our guests." There could not be last minute fixes. Everything had to be right. Today was the start of an important relationship — one that promised perhaps trillions, even tens of trillions, perhaps even more, in profits. That was the kind of success that earned someone a position among the Krierlords, like Dedaelus Marco Serón.
"Of course, Director," she said. Ana turned around and headed out of the conference hall. She had a cute butt too. Damn, it'd be hard not to go after that.
He had other things to worry about at that moment, though. Darajo went back to his own task, which was to oversee the finishing touches in the conference hall. The Golden Throne had invited a delegation of high-ranking members of Imbrinium's space agency to the largest space center in the Golden Throne. Formally known as Cüev XCII, it was outfitted to service a wing of fighter aircraft and a squadron of bombers, complete with underground hangars, easy access surface refueling and maintenance, and all the other accoutrements of an air base. However, there were few military aircraft present on the base. Those that were there all had the purpose of aiding the Second Empire's space program. The base also boasted of a large mission control center, built to coordinate dozens of space flights simultaneously if needed. Finally, hidden beneath dozens of inches of thick steel, four main subterranean launch pads joined a larger complement of six underground railgun launchers, meant for unmanned missions. At least, that's what the space center would have, once it was built. The traffic of trucks bringing in construction material was constant and high volume.
In the same building as the mission control center there was a conference hall — the one that Darajo was waiting in at that moment. Built minimalist and modern, the long room had white-painted walls broken up by large mirrored panels framed in a light-colored wood. The floors were made of wood from a slightly darker color, the subtle grooves of the long planks running diagonally. In the center ran a long table, almost from front to rear, made of a wood similar to that of the frames. The table top itself was made of glass and fully transparent, not a fleck of dust or spot of water to corrupt it. Against the far wall, a white projector screen hung from the ceiling, the projector itself at the far end of the table. At each chair, there was a laptop already ready to be used, with all the information the delegates would need to keep up with the discussion. At this point, it was essentially a collection of information on the proposed project, the financial projections, and all the key data to justify a new joint space effort with the Kingdom of Imbrinium. On each of the side walls were too doors that led to conjoined serving rooms, from which servants would come and go with food and water.
"This will be an important day." Darajo almost jumped at David Karil's voice. The Director hadn't seen him walk up to him.
"Yea," Darajo said, recomposing himself. "Well. There's still a lot of work ahead of us. When all that's done and this project succeeds, that will be an important day."
David laughed, "Geez Director, you could lighten up a bit." The Deputy Director could sure be irritating at times. He went on, "Anyways, I just wanted to let you know that the everyone is here. You haven't said a word to them , so I figured you were lost in your mind. The stress is getting to ya, huh?"
Darajo looked around the room. David was right, everyone was there and he hadn't even noticed half of them arrive. He was too caught up in the big picture. He patted the Deputy Director on the right shoulder and said, "Thanks for looking out. I'd just appreciate if you just left me the fuck alone next time, though."
"Fuck you too, boss," said David, as the Director walked away.
Darajo made his way around the room, greeting each of the members of the delegation: Chief of Staff Darek Kaval, Associate Director Mona Lisandra, Chief Engineer Markus Lineus, and Chief Financial Officer Sandra Ferut. These were four of the most important people in the Golden Throne's space program. They, along with the Director and Deputy Director, represented the leadership of the Golden Throne's space agency — starting to be referred to as the Kosmohans by the media, as facets of the agency were leaked to the public over time. The name was starting to stick.
Finally, when he greeted the last of the group, Sandra, he turned to them all and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, today marks the beginning of a new path. A path that will lead us to new heights. The people in this room are the first members of a mission to take civilization into a new age. An age where man conquers space and converts it to its own purpose, as civilization has done with everything else. For us, this program will define our careers. For everyone else, the program will define the wellbeing of the common man, for we will make possible the acquisition of treasure coves never believed possible. I'm proud of all of us for making it to this moment, but now starts the hardest part of all. We will get through it, though, and we will make history."
They all cheered, then waited for the arrival of the Imbrinium delegates.
