“Suffice it to say I
He sent an inquiring tendril of thought to SKitty. “Uh—I think four, sir.”
“Four! And they were offering us
“A more-than-considerable amount,” she said dryly. “Exclusive contract on the forcefield applications.”
“How would they feel about bargaining for four to be turned over in about a year?”
Vena turned to the rulers and translated. The excited answer she got left no doubts in anyone’s mind that the Lacu’un were overjoyed at the prospect.
“Basically, Captain, you’ve just convinced the Lacu’un that you hung the moon.”
“Well—why don’t we settle down to a little serious negotiation, hmm?” the Captain said, nobly refraining from rubbing his hands together with glee. “I think that all our problems for the future are about to be solved in one fell swoop! Get over here, spacer. You and that cat have just received a promotion to Junior Negotiator.”
