Chapter 2: Let's have a civilized lunch meeting
As promised, the two skydancers Bronte and Hattie await their strange and potentially lucrative clients at The Desert Scrub. Bronte sits at the head of the table, a fidgety Hattie sits next to her.
Bronte’s face is composed, but her brain fails to stay in her control. Though she refuses to admit this to herself, she is nervous for what’s to come. Her clientele is filled with odd characters from all over Sornieth, but never those this secretive. Whoever chooses to deal with the Planes Enterprise are usually those who find them upon visiting the Colonnades of Antiquity. Never has she dealt with clients she never saw in front of her.
This lunch meeting would hopefully give her answers.
Bronte looks up at Hattie.
Hattie folds a napkin. She unfolds it. She folds it again.
“Can you
try to not look bored?”
Hattie turns to the grandfather clock behind her. “5 or so more minutes.”
A silence falls between them.
“Yeah… What if they don’t show?” Hattie starts.
Bronte shakes her head. “I don’t think that was a prank letter, if that’s what you’re implying. That vase is real. I know it is.”
A pause.
“And they aren’t even late yet.” She finishes.
Through the decorative interior window, Bronte sees three figures walk into the dim, candelabra lamp-lit restaurant. They walk up to the receptionist, who points to Bronte’s direction.
“I think that’s them.” she whispers.
A blue spiral enters the enclosure hesitantly. A nocturne and a pearlcatcher take his either side.
“Hello… is this the Planes Enterprise?” The spiral starts.
Bronte notes his nervous nature and allows that to balance her composure.
“Yes, that’s us. And you must be Azure, yes?”
“Great to see you Bronte. We finally meet. As you know, I’m Azure. Is this your companion?”
“Her trusted personnel, more like.” Hattie remarks, keeping her tone cordial. She made sure to deliver the line with a smile so Bronte wouldn’t snap at her about it later.
Bronte shoots Hattie a look anyway. Thankfully, it was subtle enough for only Hattie to notice.
“... Right. So, may I know who your two companions are?” She gestures at the nocturne and the pearlcatcher.
Azure starts. “Yes of course. A bit about us–”
“Can we sit first?” The nocturne interrupts.
“Yes of course. Be our guests.” Bronte smiles. “We’ve taken the opportunity to order for the table. You can enjoy some of our favourite local delicacies.”
Now seated at The Desert Shrub, the lot begin their discussion. Bronte could sense that this meeting would be a long one.
Azure begins. “This is Crimja, my co captain.” He gestures at the red nocturne. “And this is Turch.” The blue-painted pearlcatcher nods. “She’s one of your previous clients… you may not remember her.”
Bronte and Hattie’s eyes widen.
“Anyway we’re here because she recommended your services. And I am the captain of The Solstice Aircraft, which is the second ship that our canyon has created.”
The red nocturne Crimja speaks. “We refer to our home as the canyon. The official name being R.Mineroot Canyon.”
Hattie struggles to keep her eyes from glazing over. Apparently this meeting required them to talk in extensive detail about their life stories.
“Ah, I see. Bronte replies. “We were wondering how a clan all the way from Windswept Plateau knew about our services. Good to know you had a good experience with us, Turch.”
Turch gives Bronte a wide smile.
“That being said, we are incredibly curious to know what services you want from us, especially since this transaction is so classified.”
Azure continues. “So the main thing to settle...this must be discrete. Just to understand your background, have you done any operations like this before?”
“None at all. I'd say about 90% of our clients are locals, and none of our transactions have been this confidential.”
Azure goes on. “That's all right, I guess you will have a lot to learn. This will be a great experience for all of you.”
Bronte and Hattie exchange a glance. With confirmation of Azure’s hint of condescension, the skydancers grit their teeth under their polite smiles.
“All the background information you need about the role of the canyon and all the other parties is in this specially prepared document. Other than that, we will just be informing you that we need delivery of weapons and the materials… everything listed in this document… to the canyon.” He pauses.
“The reason for this… I feel like I am talking a lot. Stop me if you have any questions. But at the end of the day, everything is in the documents.” Azure concludes. “We need all of these supplies to be delivered to the canyon every two months.”
Bronte sits still for a moment. They want regular supplies of weapons? She doesn’t want to make any wrong enemies. This case is only getting more curious. She clears her throat.
“So... you want us to be your weapon supplier. May I ask why? Is there a conflict in your canyon?”
“All the details are in this document. This first meeting is only to talk about the payment. Not our history.”
“All due respect, I'd think we need to know a little about what it is we're supplying weapons to.” Bronte hesitates, then continues. “I'm afraid we can't agree to anything without knowing the details.”
“We aren't asking you to agree with anything. We just want to confirm whether you want to work with us. If we dispel our private information now, your team potentially disagreeing with us will put our operation at risk. We will give you the details only if you confirm that you will be working with us.”
Crimja leans forward. “Let me summarise, we will deposit 100k of treasure just for agreeing to work with us.”
Bronte and Hattie’s eyes widen as they look at each other.
“May we… have some time to discuss this amongst ourselves?”
Azure responds. “Of course you can, Bronte.”
Crimja scoffs. “Looking at the state of you, you sure do need the treasure.”
“Crimja.” Azure warns.
Hattie doesn’t try to hide her annoyance anymore. She has an excuse to pull out her sour face now. She huffs and crosses her arms.
Bronte, on the other hand, keeps a poker face and gives Azure a tight smile.
“Right. Thanks so much. We’ll get back to you. Surely a letter of confirmation will suffice?”
Azure sighs. “Crimja, Turch, why don’t you both take a tour outside? I want to talk to them alone.”
Crimja rolls her eyes and gets out of her seat dramatically. Turch follows with a slight sullen look.
“I am sorry about that Bronte, I sure did want to have this meeting alone but needed backup in case anything occurs.”
“... Alright.” Bronte says. “I believe we have covered everything you planned for this meeting. Shall we dismiss it now?”
“Yes, the meeting can be dismissed. Again, I apologise on behalf of my companion. Just for clarification and perhaps reassurance, we are not planning a war. It’s more of a rebellion… attacks on factories and such.” Azure looks tense. “So that Primadonna doesn’t think we’re worth the trouble anymore.”
“Ah. I see.” Bronte replies, cautious.
Hattie’s expression softens. Suddenly she was no longer vexed, but concerned for them too. Bronte and Hattie share another look.
“Anyways, please contact us and see you soon, hopefully.”
“Alright, goodbye Azure. We’ll be in touch.”
Hattie nods in acknowledgement. “Yeah. Bye.”
“Thank you. I really do hope you consider our offer. We will be happy to work with you, just let us know about the confirmation. If you don't want to work with us, don't send a letter… we will just assume an absence of a letter means a decline. Just a reminder, keep all of this lowkey.”
He leaves the restaurant.
