The Acrux Ambassador walked in with his entourage. His horns were adorned with silver jewelry, a chain connecting them across the crown of his head. Acruxian wings were vestigial, but the ambassador hadn't had his removed as a sign of rank. The ambassador sat across from Negotiator Pahll and whispered something to the assistant on his right.

"Ambassador Wron does not want the monks here," the assistant said.

Negotiator Pahll sighed and shrugged. "My apologies, but I'm afraid they're required to be here. Rest assured, it's as much for your protection as it is for mine and CEO Droleck. With them in the room, we are all safe to speak our minds without fear of recourse."

The ambassador nodded.

"So, Ambassador Wron, this meeting is to go over your basic terms so that we can walk into the official meeting between the Acrux Empire and the Merchant's Guild tomorrow all on the same page. As such, if you could briefly outline the nature of the disagreement, as well as your preferred path to reconciliation, you can be on your way."

"Well..." Wron began. "The planet Dworni II had been previously settled by Acrux. By galactic law, this means that it's ours. Part of our empire. However, the Merchant's Guild set up an outpost without permission."

Negotiator Pahll raised an eyebrow. "Were Acruxians living on Dworni II? Did the Merchant's Guild try to contact you before building their outpost?"

"Our first colony had to be abandoned. There was a viral outbreak that killed fifty percent of the population, and it was evacuated before it could spread off-planet. We were just preparing to revisit our colonization efforts when we discovered that the Merchant's Guild had moved in. They never contacted us even to confirm ownership of the planet."

"Who controls the system?"

"We do, Negotiator." Ambassador Wron answered.

"So the Merchant's Guild moved into a controlled system and set up an outpost without authorization?"

"Indeed, they did."

"And how do you propose we solve this agreement?"

"Give the planet back. Plus fifty million credits in damages."

"Fifty million seems rather steep, Ambassador." Pahll's words cut the ambassador's exterior.

"Between travel here to Central Station, plus throwing off our colonization plans by at least six months, fifty million credits is a bargain."

"Will that be all, Ambassador? Is there anything else you'd like to enter onto the record?"

"Yes, Negotiator. There is one more thing. When we approached the Merchant's Guild, they threatened our patrol for trespassing. Even though they were already trespassing. They shot down one of our drones."

"Isn't that already part of the reimbursement?"

"Yes, but I want to make it clear that this disagreement has already come to blows. We could have moved directly to violence, but chose not to in order to preserve our relationship with the Human Coalition."

"Your act of mercy will not go unnoticed, Ambassador. Thank you for your time. We will convene here tomorrow and get this all sorted."

"Thank you, Negotiator. Have a nice night."

The Acrux group stood up from the table and left. The energy in the room immediately un-clenched. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Negotiator Pahll laughed at the sudden shift. "Gods help us all," Pahll said.

Realizing her mistake, she covered her mouth with her hands and chuckled. "My mistake, monks. To utter such a profane phrase in your presence is certainly frowned upon, at the very least. Please forgive me, after that conversation I had to lighten the mood."

Captain Dobbs and Red looked at each other and smiled. "Don't worry about it, Negotiator."

CEO Droleck entered the room ten minutes later by himself. He was in the middle of typing a message on his qComm. When Pahll tried to interrupt his furious typing, he held up a finger, finished his message, and finally sat down. "Okay, why am I here?" he asked.

"Mr. Droleck, you are required to explain the position of the Merchant's Guild. Once you have done so, you are welcome to leave."

"Ah, okay. Well, basically, we scanned a system, didn't find any life signs, and then found a planet suitable for construction of an outpost. So we built one. And then, come to find out, the Empire hadn't uploaded an official claim to the star-charts, but they apparently owned the system already."

"Did you have any intention of trespassing into Acruxian territory?"

"Of course not! The last thing we'd want to do is make our galactic neighbors upset with us. That's what being a good neighbor is all about!"

Negotiator Pahll nodded. "So be it. Thank you, Mr. Droleck."

"Sure thing, Negotiator. I'll see you in the morning."

He got up, pulled out his qComm, and left the chamber. "So that's it then?" Red asked, a bit confused about the proceedings.

"Until tomorrow, yes. We will meet as a group and determine the specific terms of the agreement. This case sounds particularly straightforward, so it will hopefully be a straightforward process."

"Indeed, Negotiator," Captain Dobbs said.

"You both are dismissed. Be here first thing tomorrow."

Exhausted after the meeting, Red returned to their quarters on the Furious Monkey while Captain Dobbs met with the temple monks. They slept so deeply that they didn't have time to dream. When their alarm woke them in the morning, they almost cried.

They hated politics even more than they did the day before.

Dressing up in their uniform, they met Captain Dobbs at the airlock and traveled to the negotiation chambers.

Negotiator Pahll arrived with CEO Droleck and Ambassador Wron, who traveled without an entourage. Pahll sat at the head of the table with Captain Dobbs on her right and Red on her left. Directly across from her was left empty, while CEO Droleck sat on Red's side and Ambassador Wron sat on Captain Dobbs' side.

After a few minutes of idle chatter, Negotiator Pahll called the meeting to order. "We have convened to discuss the terms of an agreement between the Acrux Empire and the Merchant's Guild. The situation is currently as follows:

"The Acrux Empire acquired a new system and failed to upload it into the star-charts in a timely manner, which led the Merchant's Guild to believe that the system was available. Detecting no life signs due to the Empire's evacuation of the sole colony on Dworni II, they established an outpost. The Empire, discovering this outpost, took military action, and had a drone destroyed the Merchant's Guild. The Acrux Empire is asking for control of the system plus fifty million credits in damages.

"Does that cover everything we spoke about yesterday?"

The ambassador and the CEO nodded in agreement.

"Then I will now open the floor to the first round of debate. Mr. Droleck, you have the floor." Negotiator Pahll took a sip of water.

"That won't be necessary, Negotiator. The Merchant's Guild is prepared to accept all responsibility for our failures. Ignorance and an old star-chart doesn't trump rule of law. We're willing to pay fifty million and remove our outpost, which can be achieved in three months."

"That's not fast enough," Ambassador Wron chimed in.

"I'm afraid the timeline can't be any sooner. Complete deconstruction of the asset simply can't be achieved any faster."

"Then just leave it. A gift to the Empire," Wron suggested.

Droleck shook his head. "No, thank you. We can re-deploy the structures on a new planet. It would be wasteful to give them to you. They aren't even designed for Acruxians."

"We can always modify them for our own purposes."

"While that might be true, we really can't part with that equipment. It's bad for business. Not to mention, it's proprietary. It's a usage rights issue. Intellectual property. We'd have to draw up a contract for that. It'd take much more time. Weeks. Our lawyers are very thorough."

"But you already trespassed on our planet. The way we see it, the outpost became our property the moment you plopped it down."

"I understand that you feel that way, but galactic law doesn't recognize that point of view. Formally speaking, it can't be enforced in this negotiation," Negotiator Pahll interrupted to remind the ambassador.

"But with the Guild's approval, we can reach an agreement that coincides with our law."

"The Empire broke the law in the first place by not uploading their claim to the star-charts. It's not our job to triple-check the paperwork."

"We did!" Wron spat.

"Actually, I checked the dates, and you uploaded your claim to the system after the Guild began construction on its outpost. If they had checked through the official channel, and met no resistance in the system, then it was entirely a failure of galactic bureaucracy that led to this conflict," Negotiator Pahll explained.

"Hmm. Okay. So be it. Three months to evacuate the system. And you will pay 60 million credits instead."

"That's a reasonable deal. Are you ready to sign the agreement right now?" Mr. Droleck asked.

"Yes."

"Then I will have the agreement drawn up. In exchange for 60 million credits in damages, the Merchant's Guild will have three months to remove themselves from the system."

The two parties nodded. Negotiator Pahll left the chamber, leaving Red and Captain Dobbs awkwardly alone with the two officials. They tried to keep to themselves, pretending that they weren't present at all. CEO Droleck focused on his qComm. Ambassador Wron simply stared into space.

Ten minutes later, Negotiator Pahll returned with the contract. The two parties signed it and shook hands and parted without a word. Red and Captain Dobbs returned to the Furious Monkey, exhausted from sitting around doing nothing.

Two hours later, Captain Dobbs called Red to the hospital aboard Central Station. CEO Droleck had gone into cardiac arrest.