They say the Coalition runs on tolerance. They tolerate the rich and fancy runnin’ their own little fiefdoms, lettin’ them do what they like. They tolerate people living at the edge, cuttin’ the shady deals. They tolerate all of that, so long as it keeps things nice and quiet and orderly. Let off a little steam here and there, and there ain’t enough of a call for rebellion, is there?

  – Captain Glitterjack (attributed)

  Ramon was not happy.

  Anyone could tell he wasn’t happy, but very few would care. Only those who knew who he was – who he really was – would care. Only those people would know exactly how bad it was that he wore a deep scowl right now.

  He knew his appearance was unassuming. A lanky, somewhat pallid look, combined with the wire-thin spectacles he often wore, gave him the look of a scholar or accountant. He often left his dark hair a bit tousled, though he trimmed it short, adding to the illusion of a harried office worker. At least he kept himself clean-shaven, though he might have ignored that as well if his wife didn’t hate facial hair so much.

  Sitting on the open terrace as he was, scowling at the papers he reviewed, he certainly looked like a functionary. The fact that he had the entire terrace to himself was a hint that he was more than he seemed. Even with the sprawling size of the Tifello Palace, getting an entire terrace for a casual meal – much less one tucked away from the gusts of wind that might interfere with the papers he was reading – was a difficult feat to pull off.

  Ramon tried to calm himself by sipping his tea. A local blend, of course. He could afford expensive imports, but he enjoyed the taste of home, and it avoided the waste and attention of bringing in some specific brand. The familiar bitterness sent enough of a jolt into his system to ease up on the scowl before he lowered the paper.

  “The situation is quiet again, for now,” the goblin sitting across from Ramon stated. Karkus was the other clue that Ramon was not just some random accountant, but instead the presumed successor to the most powerful cartel in the Principality.

  Ramon frowned again, but this time hid it with a sip of the tea. By the time the cup lowered, his tone was neutral again. “For now. But am I correct that these bandits have made at least four attacks on our infrastructure, and we have yet to even slow them down?”

  The goblin didn’t flinch, and that was one reason Ramon liked Karkus. He didn’t agree with everything his father did, but keeping this little bookkeeper on and well-paid was one of the smartest things his old man had ever done. Karkus could probably run the entire operation by himself, and only avoided doing so out of apparent loyalty. Ramon suspected the unflappable goblin was allergic to the attention and stress of the actual decisions, so took on the persona of a numbers man.

  “Four that we know, although the damage to Mount Fang was minor in the grand scheme of things,” Karkus agreed. “However, they move quickly and are clearly targeting our refineries and ability to supply them. Their vessel is an outdated model that is configured for close-in, mass-based attacks. Impractical in war, but they are making it work.”

  Ramon gathered up one of the papers and read through it again. “Yes, I’m not familiar with the model, but it does mention that. Frustratingly erratic.” Mass-based weaponry was quite effective, it was true… too effective. He knew most ships didn’t bother to mount it due to the danger of friendly fire and future hazards. Missiles could be detonated at maximum range, mana cannons dispersed, but a series of high-speed metal pellets would just keep going forever. Great for making the entire region a hazard for centuries to come.

  Karkus cleared his throat. “Of course all of our ports will refuse service, which limits where they may berth for repairs and maintenance. I believe the most recent attack on one of our freighters was to steal the fuel, as the crew was spared and the ship had only minimal damage. They have focused on combatants and freighters hauling refined K-Base.”

  That very detail made Ramon scowl briefly once more. “That is the question, isn’t it? How are they finding out which places have it? The refinery I could understand, but how are they picking out the ships?”

  “It is only a theory,” Karkus assured the young man. “We have a small sample size to choose from. We only know that of the two freighters in the system, they attacked the one bearing a full cargo of refined K-Base. They ignored the other one, and then when raiding our other freighter they stole normal goods and fuel but lacked the violence used against the others.”

  Ramon looked up from the paper, lips tightening with a flash of annoyance. “You are better than that, Karkus. Do not try to reassure me. This is not a statistical blip, this is someone with a deliberate goal to hurt us. It isn’t alarmist to assume they do have some way of detecting K-Base.”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  The goblin nodded, but said nothing about that assumption. “We could put pressure on the independent ports within and bordering our territory. They would still be able to leave the region for service but that would complicate matters for them.”

  Fingers drummed on the table as Ramon considered the idea, but he didn’t think on it long. A quick shake of his head refused the plan. “No. So far they haven’t disrupted our income stream that much, they’ve just annoyed some of our clients. If we lean on the independent ports too hard, they’ll just get mad at us and it will be easier for the next troublemaker. We need to solve the problem without inconveniencing the sector.”

  Karkus raised a silvered eyebrow. “I see.” Again, he didn’t argue, but the expression was obvious to Ramon. The assistant was basically saying that is not how your father would do things.

  That was fine. Ramon didn’t think his old man was incompetent, but he also didn’t want to be him. “I’m not my father,” he said aloud. “But I am not doing this just to spite him. I’m just doing a few things differently, Karkus. If this doesn’t work, we can… reassess our situation.”

  He turned in his chair to look up at the sky. “This will be a little expensive. Tell all our supplier ships to use triple jump security, instead of double jump. Restricted commerce only until we deal with this. Inform agents to find accommodations on any independent stations and ports to find out who is running that ship, and infiltrate the crew if possible.”

  While Karkus dutifully scribbled all of this down, the goblin twitched an ear in concern. “This will be a major expense, not just a little. Are you sure you are not panicking? It’s clearly someone who has a crusade against kaleidoscope or some derivative, but they have yet to do more than harry some low-level refineries and distribution centers.”

  It wasn’t a false statement. Ramon knew his orders would cost quite a bit of the money they’d been building up in the last few decades. “Maybe. But they fight in a way we are specifically weak to, using an old ship that was previously military-only. They may know how to detect our refined product, and according to the reports we have yet to see them coming. That does not sound like an unhappy customer throwing a fit, to me.”

  The goblin twitched, but did not disagree. It was the cost that worried him, Ramon knew. Double jumps were already expensive but standard, and travel to and from the planet was tightly-regulated. Only a few regular ships and crews knew the planet existed, and even fewer knew the actual coordinates. The system didn’t even have a registry listing in most libraries, and anyone who did try to piece together where they were would be led to one of the three nearby systems.

  To Karkus, these extra precautions moved the security from ‘tight’ to ‘utter paranoia’ or beyond. Ramon couldn’t blame the goblin for giving him a skeptical eye, but the plan would not change. Too many small things didn’t add up, and if they were a sharp enemy, they would doubtless be looking for the source of all the kaleidoscope derivatives.

  He would not take chances.

  The same safeguards that kept the location secret meant that they were lightly defended. If someone did find this system, and they could already handle the ships used for escorts, there would be little that could be done against them here.

  “And what should we do about the shipments? Many are calling for more escorts.” Karkus interrupted Ramon’s thoughts with a sharp, important question. The whole point of acting now was so that clients would not lose confidence in his leadership. If Ramon fumbled this, then his father would be forced to hand control over to another family.

  Ramon did not intend for that to happen.

  “Pull one quarter of our active forces out of the refinement systems, and one third of our reserves.” Ramon turned back to the goblin and nodded, satisfied with the mental math. “Assign them to escorts, and a few to escort shipments that do not have K-Base, just to test our theory. Leave the most experienced crews in-system just in case, but I doubt they will go after such heavily-fortified locations. They’ve kept to the less developed systems so far, which tells me they have little in the way of backup or reinforcement.”

  Karkus was scribbling something down, and looked up when Ramon smirked at him.

  “You are much more military-minded than your father,” the goblin noted. “I hope your business acumen is at least half as strong. This is a major expense now, and the rest of the families will expect a good excuse for using funds in this manner.”

  A loud, disdainful snort answered Karkus. Ramon sighed, “We have plenty of surplus, but this is the first real unknown we have faced in decades. Our bigger clients are finally starting to see some returns, and we are stable enough that we can lose entire worlds and still turn a profit. If there is a threat, it needs to be handled swiftly, decisively, and with no doubt that we are capable of doing so again. In the long term, this will secure our situation for decades.”

  The assistant made a light clucking noise with his tongue. “You speak wisely, but it is not me you need to convince. Some of the families are short-sighted. Others may see merit in your approach, but contest it because they believe it will push you out of power. Politics is another battlefield entirely, and one you are untested in, young master. This is one area where I would advise you seek the counsel of your father.”

  Ramon twitched, but he didn’t snap at the goblin. For as much as he kept repeating he would do things differently, Karkus had a good point. His father was a resource, and an experienced one. He would be a fool not to use that resource while it was still around. Considering how rarely they spoke, the two had a very cordial relationship.

  Ramon just liked to play up the myth that he was at odds with the old man. Let others think that there was a wedge between them.

  “I will consider it,” he said, and meant it.

  “And finally,” Karkus added. “You have set escorts and sent out spies, but do you intend to hunt down the problem? I think you and I both know that a few escorts are unlikely to make a difference.”

  Ramon glanced at the goblin again, then smiled. “Ah… yes, that isn’t something you need to worry about. I’m going to be calling in a few personal favors to handle that.”

  When Ramon next smiled, it was a predatory smile.

  “I believe both Adamis and Captain Gristlemaw should serve this purpose nicely.”

  The Dragon’s Eye