Technobabel (7 page)

Doi’s companion, Jonathan Msaki, also served as head of one of MCT’s major subsidiaries. That kept him more closely in touch with the activities of the megacorporate giant than Doi was, but Msaki was often more concerned with his other affairs than the business of the court. Osborne noticed he tended to follow Doi’s lead on most issues and let the more charismatic MCT mouthpiece do the talking. Msaki was better at gathering information, and Osborne knew that very little escaped his notice. That was why she moved so quickly to secure Mitsuhama’s support. Doi and Msaki made a formidable team, and Mitsuhama had suffered more from Renraku’s rise in fortune than any other member of the court. Osborne suspected that she could put that to good use.

Mariene Carstairs, the other Saeder-Krupp representative, looked distinctly unhappy about being on board the orbital. Osborne knew that Carstairs liked neither space travel nor the orbital’s zero-g environment, and she distinctly enjoyed any occasion for Carstairs’ discomfort. Mariene Carstairs had made her share of enemies in her years on the court, and Osborne counted herself among them. She knew Ono from Ares didn’t get along with Carstairs either, but it was the spectacular breakup between Mariene Carstairs and the late Renraku justice Sam Violet that Osborne was counting on.

The two had had a tempestuous affair that went down in flames when Carstairs vindictively arranged for Violet’s wife to find out about it. Osborne suspected that Carstairs had also had something to do with the commuter plane crash that ended Violet’s life just as he returned to Earth after failing his bid for re-election more than two years ago. Mariene Carstairs was a cold slitch, and everyone knew she had shed no tears for Violet. Osborne hoped Carstairs’ hatred of the late Renraku justice would be enough to keep her from fragging with Fuchi’s case out of malice. The Saeder-Krupp justice was a believer in the adage "the enemy of my enemy is my friend," and Osborne planned to make it work in her favor.

Along with Carstairs came Domingo Chavez, who had also just made the shuttle-flight up to the orbital. Chavez, like Carstairs, made no secret of his dislike for visiting the orbital, but the dislike was well-founded. Chavez was a mage, a man with a talent for shaping the magical energies of the Awakened world. It was a power that had changed the face of the Earth since the Awakening in 2011, and the megacorporations knew magic as a powerful tool to be used and respected, which had put magicians like Chavez in positions of power among them.

Unfortunately, all of the evidence suggested that the power of magic was strongly tied to the living Earth, and so did not work as expected outside of the atmosphere. In space, magicians who attempted to call upon their powers went mad or even died. Some simply vanished, never to be seen again. All of the corporations and many others were investigating the problem, but it seemed for now that the use of magic simply wasn’t an option in space. Magicians were safe so long as they did not attempt to use their powers. That was why so few magicians were chosen to serve on the court, and why Chavez was so loathe
to come
to Zurich-Orbital in person. A thin sheen of sweat coated his dark brow, and he mopped at it nervously with a linen handkerchief as he made his way carefully around the perimeter of the chamber to his place.

Aztechnology was always a wild card in court decisions. The megacorp had the dubious honor of being the first to be punished by the court some ten years ago for their activities in Southern California and in Aztlan, the nation that had taken over the former
territory
of
Mexico
and much of Central America with encouragement from Aztechnology. It had been necessary to teach Aztechnology a lesson, and the Court had acted decisively. Osborne knew that lesson still stung for many in positions of power in Aztechnology. She couldn’t help but wonder if it would keep Chavez from approving similar measures against Renraku or if the Aztechnology justice would welcome an opportunity to pay back some of what his corporation had suffered to another member of the court.

The next to enter the courtroom were the Ares Macrotechnology justices on the court. Paul Graves came first, looking like a linebacker or a marine someone had dressed up in a thousand-nuyen designer suit for the occasion. He moved through the freefall of the station like a solider traversing an obstacle course he had run a dozen times before. Osborne knew Graves was no stranger to living and working in space, being a regular visitor to Ares’ own Daedelus orbital platform as well as the Zurich-Orbital. Graves was one of the military types so typical of Damien Knight’s inner circle of business associates and subordinates, a lethal weapon to be pointed and fired at any target Knight chose.

Behind Graves came Akae Ono, moving through the room like a fish in water to reach his "seat" along the bench. Despite his age, Ono moved about the orbital easily. He was the only justice who lived on the station full-time and had done so since his appointment to the court some seven years before. Rumor had it that he was there for the life-prolonging effects of living in a zero-gravity environment, and it certainly seemed to agree with him. The septuagenarian justice looked and acted more like a man half his age. Osborne knew that Ono was the one holding onto Graves’ leash for Damien Knight. If she could convince the old man that Fuchi’s interests were Ares’ interests, Osborne would certainly win Graves over as well.

The remaining two female members of the court entered the room together, although neither was overly fond of the other. Yoshiko Hino of Yamatetsu was physical perfection as only twenty-first-century biosculpt surgery could make it. Osborne smiled briefly at the pronounced effect zero-gravity had on Hino’s breasts, which were a bit too large for her body, and how fond the vainglorious Hino was of using the effect to her advantage whenever circumstances brought her to the orbital. In fact, Osborne believed that Hino’s holo-image transmitted through the Matrix was "enhanced" in the same way to provide a distraction for her largely male audience. Yamatetsu was a hungry corporation that had forced its way onto the
Corporate Court
only a few years after it was established, and they still worked under the stigma of "the newcomer" even years later. The corp had been a vocal supporter of the action against Aztechnology, and Osborne suspected Hino would be eager to join in with anything that would make her employer part of the majority.

In contrast to Hino’s "corporate bimbo" image, Mariko Kiyonobo was all business. She was the director of Shiawase’s active Envirotech Division in addition to her duties on the
Corporate Court
and juggled the two jobs with considerable skill. Although only a junior member of the court, appointed in the past term to replace the lackluster Lorraine Wakizaka, Mariko was not intimidated in the slightest by the other justices and pushed the agenda of her company forcefully and skillfully. Osborne liked her and thought the feeling was shared by Kiyonobo. Shiawase was not overly concerned with Renraku’s activities, but Osborne believed that Kiyonobo would do what was best for her corp and the Court.

The last to enter the courtroom and take his place on the bench was Francesco Napoli, the Renraku representative who so concerned Hague. "Paco" Napoli did have a considerable reputation as a corporate bulldog and "resources adjuster" for Renraku Computer Systems. His career before coining to the
Corporate Court
was littered with the carefully buried bodies of people who had gotten in his or Renraku’s way at some point, but Osborne wasn’t concerned about any danger Napoli posed to Fuchi’s case. Ever since the unfortunate demise of Sam Violet, the only place Renraku hadn’t prospered in the past couple years was on the Court, where Napoli remained their only representative. Some took it to mean Renraku had decided they were above being concerned about the august body, but Lynn Osborne chose to interpret it as a serious error in judgment by Renraku, one she aimed to exploit to her full advantage.

If Napoli was at all concerned about the hearing in the courtroom, he didn’t show it. Osborne had to give him credit for that. Napoli was a cool one.
His
blood
must
be
like
ice,
she thought, quietly watching him out of the corner of her eye while she pretended interest in the display screen built into the surface of the bench. Napoli settled quickly into place and exchanged pleasantries with Hino to his right. Osborne gritted her teeth as Hino laughed at some joke or comment of Napoli’s.

Jean-Claude Priault took an old-fashioned gavel—made of real wood, no less—from its resting place clipped to the side of the bench facing him and rapped it slowly several times on the bench to get everyone’s attention. The cost of carrying the gavel into orbit for the use of the
Corporate Court
probably could have supported the average family of four for a couple of months. The megacorporations spared no expense where authenticity was concerned.

"The Court will come to order," he said in his deep voice that revealed only the slightest accent of his native French. "This meeting of the
International Corporate Court
is now in session."

The room fell silent, and Osborne felt a dozen sets of eyes watching her as she gathered her thoughts. She patiently waited through the official roll call and the reading of the Court’s charge "to protect and ensure the prosperity and security of its members." Then, they were ready to get down to business. Priault would normally have had the secretary of the Court read the current item on the agenda, but no one apart from the justices were permitted in this session, so Priault personally read it aloud from the display on the bench.

"The subject of this hearing is whether or not the Corporate Court should censure Renraku Computer Systems, Inc. for the use of unfair practices and violations of the concords of the Corporate Court and whether or not the Corporate Court should order any reparations by Renraku Computer Systems or authorize any other action against Renraku on these grounds. The case has been brought by Justice Osborne of Fuchi Industrial Electronics, who will address the Court on the issue. Justice Napoli of Renraku will also be given the opportunity to speak. We will now hear opening statements from the two parties."

Well,
Osborne thought.
Here
goes
everything
.

6

Infringement
against
pan-corporate
law
falls
into
two
basic
categories:
infringement
by
minor
corps
and
infringement
by
megacorps
.
The
first
case
is
a
no-brainer
.
If
the
Corporate
Court
decides
that
a
minor
corp
(any
corporation
not
classified
as
AAA)
has
broken
a
law
and
warrants
punishment,
it
gives
mandate
to
one
or
more
of
the
major
corps
to
a
given
degree
.
This
mandate
grants
the
megacorp
official
authorization
to
use
its
security
assets
against
the
guilty
corporation,
to
the
specified
extent
.
A
mandate
can
range
from
relatively
minor
destruction
by
black
ops
assets
to
"
open
season
,
"
where
the
enforcing
megacorp
can
destroy
the
target
corp
.

Procedures
work
a
little
differently
if
a
AAA
megacorp
violates
corporate
law
.

—downloaded from "Corporate Shadowfiles" on the Shadowland BBS

Osborne placed her hands on the bench, carefully and gently elevating herself a bit above the level of her previous position to approximate a standing pose in zero gravity, having adjusted her harness earlier to carry off the move gracefully.

"Fellow justices," she said, scanning the room and taking in everyone with the sweep of her gaze, "this Corporate Court was established to ensure two things: a safe and secure environment in which business can flourish and the maintenance of a balance of power in which all of our companies can continue to prosper. When that delicate balance is threatened, we must act as our charter requires
to correct the imbalance and put
things back on track."

Osborne paused for a moment and saw that she had everyone’s attention. No one in the court wanted to think about the possibility of the megacorporations losing the profitable business environment they needed to stay viable.