“Come sit,” Michael instructed, nodding towards one of the little stools that was part of their moveable shelter.
They looked like they would shatter under a toddler’s weight, let alone his. Tom knew they had been constructed specifically for ease of movement. When they moved camp, a single person carried the full stack of twenty. There were no stories of them breaking as far as he was aware of, and Tiny was sitting on one, which conveyed more reliability than words ever could.
Tom sat gingerly on the ridiculously flimsy chair. It didn’t even creak; and apart from being low to the ground, it was comfortable. Tom let his hard eyes scan everyone here. Their body language had not changed. They had not summoned him to pat him on the back and tell him what a good job he had been doing. “Why do you all look serious?”
Michael laughed. “I see you’re as blunt as ever, Tom.”
He shifted, embarrassed. Michael had been encouraging him to moderate himself; but fuck that. The future prosperity and potential existence of humanity were on their shoulders, and he would not pretend to play nice.
“The council would like to talk loot distribution,” Tiny explained. He was trying to be quiet, but his voice boomed, anyway. Silence-cancelling arrays, rituals, or spells meant no one outside would hear the confidential discussions.
Unbidden, his lips curled up. He had been expecting to have this conversation for a couple of days and shot Michael an annoyed glance. “A warning would have been nice.”
“What? I agreed with the council not to pre-warn you.”
“What about our fucking friendship?”
Michael had the grace to look embarrassed. “It’s not that simple.”
“Like hell it isn’t.”
Tiny aggressively cleared his throat. “Council meetings are confidential.” Tiny rumbled. “Michael did only what he had to.”
Tom said nothing, and Tiny nodded appreciatively.
“As I was saying, we need to discuss loot distribution, not experience. That’s yours. This is just about loot.”
“This discussion would work better if you hadn’t tried to ambush me.”
“Easy, Tom.” Michael said warningly.
“It’s not what we sought to do.” Tiny rumbled.
Why he had been drafted as a spokesperson of the council was curious. Was it because he was the biggest? In which case, it was a pretty ham-fisted attempt to intimidate him. Tom had faced stronger stuff in the trials.
They all had.
If they were being this inept in their approach, it probably explained why Michael had not warned him. He didn’t need a sophisticated plan if this was their strategy. He had just had to… Michael made the calm down gesture and Tom accepted the advice. If he was reading the other man right, Michael thought Tom was in the advantageous position and so had been hands-off … providing he did not lose control.
Tom took a deep breath calmed himself and forced himself to smile. “You’re right. It’s about time we discuss it. I was thinking I get seventy percent, twenty for the gathers and the rest for everyone else in the processing chain.”
Slap.
He avoided laughing and regarded Tiny bemused. The large man had slapped his own leg to get attention as the noise of the blow echoed around the room.
It must have hurt.
“Unacceptable.” Tiny growled into the silence.
“Easy there,” Michael said quickly. “There’s no reason to make this adversarial.”
“He started it,” Tiny rumbled.
Tom felt like rolling his eyes but resisted. Like in battle, being calm would suit him better than the alternatives. Words were not his forte. Rightly or wrongly, he preferred a more physical approach to dealing with life’s issues. Though maybe not against Tiny, but Tom was more than that. While forty years of spear-to-claw fighting had honed his instincts, he was greater than that. He enjoyed planning. He had patience. Forty years of questions had proved that, and this was another fight.
Neutral features fell over his face. Years of life and death had taught the value of tactics, the necessity of being adaptable. His mind flashed to Pinkwing. That was probably the most important lesson. The cost of succumbing to emotions. A cold detachment would always beat rage. “Apologies. I didn’t realise I said anything offensive. What issue do you have with my suggested distribution?” he asked pleasantly.
“We’re a community.” Tiny said loudly once more. As far as Tom had observed, the big man was incapable of speaking softly.
“Tom,” Michael warned even as he glared at Tiny. “The problem is we’re trying to find an equitable solution for everyone.”
“That’s what I gave.” Tom interrupted, completely calm. If they wanted this to be sorted out on the battlefield, he was happy to give them that desire. “It was equitable.” He rolled the overly large word in his mouth. “Fair,” he corrected. “You know my team could have left at any time. We would be out of these plains by now if we had.”
“No one is disputing that you deserve some of the credits the wasps have generated.” Michael said smoothly.
“Some?”
“Yes, some. We’ve supplied food. A place to sleep.”
“Outside on the ground, while acting as a lightning rod to stop the guards getting stung doesn’t really count as gifting me a place to sleep. I don’t know.” Absently he used his small finger to clear out his ear hole. It was theatre, a subtle ‘I can’t believe I’m hearing this’. “If anything, that sounds like something I should be paid for.”
“The hammer you’re using,” Michael continued. “And more importantly, hands to process all the wasp corpses and organise them by quality to maximise profit when we sell them. There was a lot of work there.”
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
“And twenty percent more than covers that.” Tom shrugged.
“We want a community auction teleporter!” Tiny bellowed unable to stop himself.
“Tiny!” Michael snapped.
“With my auction credits?” Tom pitched his voice low and dangerous, deliberately contrasting with the other man’s unduly aggression.
“We’ve got enough now for a teleporter,” Michael told him. “Which is why we’re having this discussion.”
“It’s not a discussion.” Tiny rumbled. “The council has already decreed that outside emergency purchases, all auction credits earned get put towards the teleporter. We voted.”
Tom stilled. “You’ve voted to rob me?”
“Don’t overreact, Tom,” Michael said quickly.
“I’m still sitting here because I like you,” he told the healer without moving his eyes from Tiny. “Say something I want to hear before I make a scene.”
“The council was not unanimous.”
“A majority supported the notion.” Tiny rumbled.
“Barely,” Michael answered.
That meant four voted to strip him of his money and the other three, well, two excluding Michael, had refused the vote.
He stood up.
“Tom,” Michael said.
“Michael,” he repeated in the same tone.
“It’s only two hundred and fifty thousand.”
“This time.” Tom conceded. “But If I give in here then what? Next time? Bullies don’t take your lunch money just on the first day.”
“This is for the sake of humanity; and you don’t have to be worried about the future. The teleporter is a once-off.”
“You’re exaggerating.”
The rest of the council started disputing Tom’s complaint, but he ignored their noise and held Michael’s eyes. The healer gave him a small nod, and Tom relaxed. If Michael had wanted him to take this deal, then he would have prepared the ground in advance. It didn’t take a genius to know that Tom was going to react badly to being robbed blind.
Instead of looking at Michael, he swept his eyes over the rest of the people gathered. They were all arguing, and every single one of them was convinced that this was for the greater good. If it was their credits, Tom was sure they would be approaching the topic with a materially different mind- set.
Tom couldn’t even be bothered to say anything. He leant down and stepped through the flap. Everlyn was loitering ten metres away and saw his angry face. She smiled sympathetically. He tried to reciprocate, but he couldn’t manage through his fury. “This joint sucks. Let’s blow it.”
She linked hands with him, and they started walking towards the nearest pillar.
Joline yelled behind him. When he glanced back, she had left the tent, wearing a thick robe. Given the timing, it must have had enchantments to allow it automatic equipping. “Tom, don’t do this. You’ll regret it.”
He kept trudging.
Michael and Ran Seong emerged next. Logistics were a bitch, and the council did not all possess clothes that would let them follow, which meant he wouldn’t be dealing with all of them himself.
Two hostiles and Michael; he could cope with that. “Sven, Harry, Thor.” he called out, naming his core group, and those he knew were not a murderer.
Sven was on his feet instantly. “Are we going on an adventure?”
He gave a thumbs up. “Yep, we’re off to see new lands.”
“Tom, don’t.” It was Ran Seong, the head of the crafter group. “The others are being selfish and greedy." He noticed Clare and the earth mage who had been number two coming over.
Ran Seong kept approaching. “Please Tom, you don’t need to do this. You’ll rip the community apart. We’re all on the same team.”
“And I’m high-ranking on humanity’s achievement ladder. Rather than supporting me you’re stealing from me. Crippling my growth.”
“I have thirty percent of the sales in my name. Let me transfer it to you.” She came up pulled her glove off and put her fingers on him. For the briefest moments she was still, and then she stepped back and hurriedly replaced the glove. “It’s done. I’ve given you all of it. Come back and negotiate. You might need to yield a little, but there are options that don’t involve you storming away and dooming us.”
“That’s not fair, Seong,” Michael said quietly. “If Tom leaves, we’ll survive it. Probably take us a few extra weeks to get out of here but we will.”
“Sorry,” she sounded embarrassed. “But’s its best for all of us if you stay, Tom. We can get a fair split and take the stupid linkage to the teleporter plate off the table. You’re right that should be a straight tax.”
“That’s not what the council agreed.” Joline said tightly.
“The strong negotiating position that you promised would work has failed.”
“I warned you.” Michael told her.
“It didn’t fail. You just believed Tom’s bluff too quickly.”
Michael shook his head. “No Joline. It definitely failed. If you couldn’t tell that Tom wasn’t bluffing, then….”
Joline shook her head angrily. “I beg to differ. I’ve got years of experience doing this for far higher stakes.”
“Joline,” Tom interrupted suddenly annoyed. “We’re no longer on Earth. Everyone here has spent at least ten years alone or as good as alone,” he clarified hurriedly when she looked like she was about to object. “Splitting into a small group will be a relief to most of us.”
“Rubbish.”
“Joline, listen,” Michael snapped. “Tom spent forty years by himself. I spent twenty. I used to be a social person, and now I love the times I get to be alone. Now, if it didn’t risk my own and other’s survival, I would go away and live by myself in the wilderness. It would be glorious after being around so many people. Tom has to have it worse. Your little psychological tricks, ‘You’re letting down the community’, ‘The community will reject you,’ won’t work. He wants to go. He is only here because he has morals.”
“And I’m not a kid to get tricked.”
“Not my intention,” Joline answered stiffly.
Seong cleared her throat. “Joline, you’re not helping.”
“Agreed,” Tom said flatly.
“Can you please leave?” Seong smiled, but it did not reach her eyes.
With jerky, reluctant movements, Joline turned and walked back into the command tent. They all watched till she disappeared.
“Tom,” Seong said quickly. “Please don’t abandon us. We’re still better together; and given the margins on a teleporter plate, it’s important to buy one. Maybe you can take a proportion of your cut and then put the rest into a loan to purchase the teleporter. If you’re receptive, I’ll get you the votes.”
“I don’t need votes. I can walk.”
“Tom,” Michael said. “Seong is genuine. She’s actually on your side. Plus, I know you don’t want to storm off. You can hide as much as you want, but you’re a good guy. Seong, do you mind?” He nodded back to the command tent. “I’d like to give Tom some advice before we continue.”
“The council won’t like that. Especially Joline.”
Michael rolled his eyes. “I’ll handle them later.”
“Better you suffer through that than me.” With a small wave, the crafter turned and left,
“Give us five minutes,” Michael called out when she reached the leader’s tent. “Then Tom will come back and negotiate in good faith.”
“Says who?” Tom whispered under his breath and got elbowed in the guts for his trouble by Everlyn. Seong vanished, and the group of them stood alone with no one near them. “What percentage should I ask for?” Tom asked the group.
“I think it is better to ask what you and your,” Michael nodded towards the others had lined up… “Team receive rather than talking about your personal percentages. It’ll be an easier deal to make.”
“You included in that?”
Michael chuckled at the question. “As I remember, you wouldn’t have made it through the first day without me. And I’ve helped since, too.”
“True.” He nodded to Michael in respect. “If you guys negotiate in good faith, so will I. Give me a moment”
He ducked into the system room.
“Number of auction credits.”
Eighty thousand flashed up on the screen.
He returned to the real world. Then leant forward to get close to Everlyn’s ear. “Looks like there’s about a quarter of a million in the pot,” he whispered.
She leaned over to whisper back to him. “I already knew that because that’s how much the teleporter costs.” Then she grinned at him. “You’re rich now. What present are you going to buy me with all these credits?” She battered her eyelashes.
“You, I have ideas for,” he lied. “As for myself, I hadn’t even considered it.”
She looked him up and down. “Pants. Definitely pants.”
“Shoes,” he agreed. “Armour.”
“Your own hammer.”
Tom crinkled his nose at that suggestion. “I’m more of a spear guy.”
“And I was a run-and-gun girl.”
“Really?”
“No, but here.” She shrugged, tapping her forehead. “In the trials, I dreamed of having a good elephant gun.”
“Wouldn’t that have been great?”
“Right now. I’d settle for a practice bow,” Everlyn admitted.
They arrived back at the leaders’ tent. She kissed him on the cheek but kept a tight grip on his hand.
Michael snorted. “Yes, you can come.”
Everlyn beamed. “This is going to be fun.”