Electra Draco

Electra Draco strolls down the hallway leading to the office of Grayson Flux with her personal assistant, Cygnus Lo at her side. As Space Venture's president and CEO, she ponders the viability of her second most prized possession, the Neptune Shores Beach Resort. According to rules set forth by the Interplanetary Federation, Space Venture must release its yearly financial reports to its employees and make those reports available for public record, something she once dreaded to do. With the corporation's moon and Mars resorts providing limited income, Draco admits she placed the company's survival on the success of Neptune Shores. Fortunately, she conceived of the plans for the space cruise ship. It was a stroke of genius, but the question remains: will this new venture keep the corporation afloat for future generations, or send it to the bottom of the celestial sea?

Draco wrinkles her nose. The smoky-sweet odor of tobacco wafts through the air. As she walks, she leans in close to Lo. "Give me a status report on the board members?"

Her assistant brings up a hologram on his tablet. The image shows a layout of the resort with tiny red dots moving along the inner corridors. "Estimated time of arrival is five minutes," he says. "They just entered the end of the concourse and are in route as we speak."

Draco halts at the door. "Good. When they arrive, have them stand at the back. Have the staff bring the champagne to the center of the room, and last, make sure you video the celebration and upload it to the data stream afterwards."

"There's one slight problem." Lo looks up as Draco towers over him. He grins sheepishly. "Didn't Flux tell you about the communication arrays?"

"No, he did not."

"Damaged by micrometeoroids. Repairs are underway, but at the moment we can't upload to the stream."

"Fine. Do it as soon as we get on the ship."

"As you wish."

Draco turns from Lo and pushes through the door without knocking. It was already ajar. As she sweeps into the office, Flux stands in his black suit, back to them, hands behind him. He peers out over his territory through the wide picture window, his eyes aiming down toward the beach. When Flux hears the movement of air, he swivels on his heels and faces Draco and Lo.

As president and CEO, and majority shareholder of Space Venture, Draco demands respect and cooperation from those under her charge, everyone except Grayson Flux. She has the final say, but she gives him a certain leeway she doesn't give others. As a businessman, he's intelligent and shrewd, as hard as a polycrystalline diamond bit on a drill rig in the asteroid belt.

"I don't appreciate you giving Mintaka the order to proceed." Flux stabs Draco with accusing eyes. "That was my order to give, and you know it."

"I think you don't understand the gravity of our situation." Draco glances at Lo. "Shut the door."

"But the board members are coming."

"Do it now." Hot rage kindles under Draco's skin. She dreaded having this confrontation with Flux for weeks, but it must be done. "Now, Cygnus."

Lo heeds the order and twists the old fashion lock on the knob for good measure.

"Our future is riding on the success of the Celestial Sea. Our books are in the red. Deep in the red, and the inaugural cruise has almost brought us back from the brink. We've almost broken even."

Flux curses and stares evenly at Draco. "I'm aware of that, but a decision this important should be made—"

"By me," Draco says. "Must I remind you of your place, Grayson?"

"I know my place, but..."

"People were complaining of AG Sickness on the cruise. That's why I put a rush on the new inoculations, to fix the problem before it brings bad press to Space Venture."

"Artificial Gravity Sickness is often short-lived, you know that."

"Of course, but the ship's passengers consider it a nuisance, and some people have it worse than others. If we don't provide a quick remedy to this, we'll suffer from poor ratings. That'll hurt business. We must appear to be proactive in the eyes of potential guests at this resort."

Someone knocks at the door.

Draco swivels to her personal assistant. "Tell them to wait. Stall them. I don't care. Make up something."

Lo unlocks the knob and steps into the hallway, closes the door behind him.

"But why did you have Mintaka inoculate the tour guides last night?" Flux places a hand on his hip. "To do them first... they're teenagers, for god's sake."

"Are you kidding me? They're about to graduate from high school. They're on the verge of adulthood, and besides that, they're the perfect people to get the injections first. Now that they have the inoculation, they'll be able to assure our guests that we have solved the problem."

"Do you know for a fact there are no side effects?"

"Have any of the tour guides complained?"

"No, but..."

"But what?"

Flux shakes his head, turns to the side, and puts his hands on the counter, jarring a bottle of bourbon and a pair of glass tumblers.

"I'm sorry for going straight to Dr. Mintaka on this decision, but you bucked me the last time I mentioned a serum upgrade. I had to push this through, and you know why."

Flux wipes a hand over his face and grimaces.

"Now. Will you please open the door for the board members?" Draco says.

Flux brushes past her and allows Cygnus Lo to enter the office, as well as the rest of the men and women standing out in the hallway. As the members of the board file into the room, Draco wonders what kind of tale Lo weaved to keep them appeased while they waited. That thought flutters away as the last one enters and the door closes. Like someone flipped a switch on a gravity drive, the heat of her conversation with Flux floats off, and she replaces the contempt she had for her resort manager with a welcoming smile.

As Lo explains that the members can stand at the back of the room, Draco moves behind Flux's desk and stands with the large window's scenic view behind her.

She clears her throat and the light chatter in the room dies down. "Cygnus has arranged for a celebration. We've planned a toast."

"The staff will arrive shortly," Lo replies.

"Excellent. As you know, Neptune Shores has been struggling to remain in orbit. It has nothing to do with mechanical problems or anything of the sort." Draco glares at Flux, who mirrors her icy gaze. "It's a financial issue..." She pauses for effect, allowing her eyes to drift around the room. "Something we've solved with the solar system's first space cruise ship, a vessel large enough to ferry thousands of guests to our beach resort. I am proud to announce, as you already know, the maiden voyage of the Celestial Sea has been a raving success, and reservations are already rolling in for Neptune Shores. The space cruise ship will take Space Venture to new heights, never experienced before, which may even lead to interstellar travel to planets in other star systems. Simply put, there are no limits to what we can achieve... together."

"But what about the AG Sickness some experienced on the trip to Neptune?" one board member says, a woman from the Federation's Asian Province.

"We have a remedy. Expect a new inoculation before day's end."

"That's moving fast," a man says. He's tall and lean, one of the younger members of the board.

"Our scientists have thoroughly tested and approved the new inoculations. Dr. Mintaka assures me they are ready for an immediate rollout. Now, as I was saying, the Celestial Sea has brought five thousand potential guests to our resort, all of them wealthy, Earth's most renowned business people. Billionaires. We've already made enough profit to pay for the ship twice over, and we've nearly brought Neptune Shores into the black—"

A knock at the door steals everyone's attention.

Pacing across the floor, Cygnus Lo allows the staff from one of the resort's restaurants into the room. A cart rolls in, carrying ice buckets filled with champagne bottles. Another cart follows with slender flute glasses. In minutes, the staff pours drinks and disperses them to everyone in the room.

Draco takes a step forward and garners everyone's attention. "At this very moment, the ship's passengers are oohing and ahhing over the awe-inspired wonder of the Neptune Shores Beach Resort. They're ogling over holographic images of our hotel rooms, our spas, our pools, shopping, entertainment, and, of course, our spell binding beach with sugar white sand and turquoise water. They won't find another place like this in the solar system, and they won't find another cruise ship like the Celestial Sea."

Draco raises her champagne glass. "Here's to a profit windfall. No wait. Here's to a profit space-fall."

"To Neptune Shores," another board member says, a man with a dark beard and deep blue eyes. "And to the Celestial Sea."

With that, Draco throws back her glass, grinning victoriously as Lo records the meeting on his tablet, later to be uploaded to the data stream for everyone in the Interplanetary Federation to see.