ALJ Chpt 20

frameless|right|300px|link=A Long Journey
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==Chapter 20 - A Long Journey==
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18 May 2785
New Avalon (Federated Suns)
"It has started, it is only a matter of time before Lieutenant General Mitchell and his merry band of soldiers are absorbed by us. Purchase the Monolith, below market price, shave it by 10%, it only buys them so much time before they have to sell off another one to make ends meet." First Prince John Davion said
"What if he refuses the price and places it on the open market? Another House might purchase it." 
"It is a risk I am willing to take, we will call this a test of his loyalty to the Federated Suns. Better to find out now than later." First Prince John Davion replied
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24 May 2785
Mackolla (Federated Suns)
The purchase agreement arrived at the same time as the money being deposited in their account. It was not the usual way to do business, but it made it very difficult to refuse, though some wanted to do just that.
"The First Prince just screwed us out of 160 Million dollars. We should refuse the offer and send the money back to him. Sell it to the highest bidder." Colonel Martin Harper said
"And what then? If we do as you suggest, we could be cutting our hand off in spite of our face. We accept the money and transfer the Monolith as agreed upon. There is no need to draw too much attention to ourselves by the First Prince or his underlings. Our situation is just too murky right now, there is too much we do not know about how much freedom we actually have to operate. He is testing us, I can feel it in my gut." Lieutenant General Samuel Mitchell said
"Well, this test sucks." Colonel Harper replied
"Yes it does at that, but we will swallow it. There will come a time when we will be able to return the favor and we will do exactly that. Now, we have almost 1.5 Billion, so have the lawyers setup the pension fund and deposit 191 Million into it, I want a minimum rate of return of 5% per year on our investments. The pension fund will cover retirements, disability and survivor payments in case of death equal to their pay rate at 100% for survivor, 50% for diability and 75% for retirement." Lieutenant General Mitchell said, he was setting up an exact copy of the benefits of the SLDF. "Medical care will be provided 100%. Once you have that completed, transfer 300 Million to Mackolla Enterprises so that they can get started up building our future. That will leave us one billion to make payroll and purchase what equipment and supplies we need."
"Yes, sir." Colonel Harper replied and it was quite obvious he still doubted these moves being planned.
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1 June 2785
With the startup money now deposited, Gerald Mitchell wasted no time in setting things into motion. He had also done a ton of research and sent a message to O'Neil Yards in the Terran system and ordered the exact core grinder that was installed on their Newgrange Yardships. Having been given the specifications by Patricia, he knew the exact model needed and how much it was, so attached to his order was the information needed for the money transfer in the amount of 62 Million dollars, which paid for the shipping expense plus 100 of the large capture bags which could contain 10,000 tons each. He still had not located a large movable object to mount the core grinder on though. He placed 20 million into the account for Mackolla Salvage for operating expenses.
His next order went to Achernar Heavy Industries where he spent 80 Million puchasing heavy machinery to manufacture various armor types and metals and all of the equipment needed for start to finish manufacture. This would be the foundation for Mackolla Special Metals, the next division he planned in their portfolio. He would purchase the raw ore from local small mining outfits, for now anyway. He hired a local recruiting agency to try and hire experienced workers from the Terran Hegemony region, there were bound to be quite a few unemployed people there that would be willing to relocate.
His third planned division would be Mackolla Aerospace Services, but this one would require some negotiation with Planetary Governor Nelson, a meeting he had scheduled for tomorrow. He planned to use the mans faults against him and to their own gain.
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2 June 2785
"Gerald Mitchell, nice to meet with you. I have been informed that you are related to Lieutenant General Mitchell and have formed a corporation which is based on Mackolla. What can I do for you, sir?" Planetary Governor Nelson asked
"Thank you for meeting with me. Yes, it has been a very busy and exciting time for me. Retirement is very boring. I am forming a new venture, Mackolla Aerospace Services. I plan to offer maintenance and repairs for Jumpships and Dropships and would like to work out a long term lease on the Olympus Recharge Station at the Zenith Jump Point. It would save me a ton of money but help generate a good tax revenue stream for Mackolla. I understand that right now, there is virtually no revenue coming in from the Olympus Recharge Station, I want to change all of that." Gerald Mitchell said
"That is a very expensive asset to Mackolla, Mr Mitchell, you understand that." Governor Nelson replied
"I sure do, sir. Mackolla still would own it, I would just be leasing it from your government. I handle the operations, expenses including the payrolls. Your government just collects the taxes on the revenue I generate. I just need to know what sort of terms this would require. Granting it will take some time to actually start generating a steady revenue stream, I would ask for some sort of concession." Gerald Mitchell said
"One million per year for the first 10 years, after that Mackolla would need 10% of the revenue stream." Governor Nelson said
"I would like a fifty year lease for those amounts sir. You have done a lot of good for Mackolla, but you have also strayed a bit. I have lived here full time since 2762 and outside of small enterprises and very modest infrastructure projects, not much has changed here. I was here when you were elected, that has been thirteen years now, your on your third term with an election in two years. You come from modest means yet you are the majority owner of the largest construction company on the planet, majority owner of the largest mining company, which happens to have the most favorable leasing terms. That does not look good, sir. People are happy so they do not rock the boat, but an election is coming and if this were to get out, well it just does not look good. I believe the planets mono rail projects are over budget by 80% and behind schedule by three years. Your company has that contract if I am not mistaken.", Gerald pointed out.
"You come from modest means, a little more than my own means. Getting a company started is expensive, I know that for a fact. I have to ask myself, exactly how did you, in just three years in office manage to get the funds together to purchase a majority ownership of those companies. Your salary is only a million dollars a year and both of those companies probably have in excess of 100 million in equipment assets alone. If I am asking those questions, there are bound to be many more people asking those questions. I am just saying, it does not look very good." Gerald Mitchell concluded 
"Sir, are you threatening me?" Governor Nelson asked, his face reddening
"Not at all, sir, I was just pointing out some simple observations to you. I think a fifty year lease would work out for both of us don't you?" Gerald Mitchell stated calmly.
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