Early 964 ARR (36 BBY)
There had been spate of attacks on our chartered freighters in the past few weeks. Some had managed to escape unharmed, others dumping their cargo and one had simply disappeared.
Most of the attacks were targeted at our ships in the vicinity of Chad, with only a couple nearer Naboo. Jestos's assessment was that the attacks nearby seemed to genuinely be random pirate raids, while those near Chad were connected to the Trade Federation's ongoing effort to undermine Rebaxan Columni.
It was unlikely that the relationship between our businesses would remain quiet for long. Even if none of our people or Rebaxan's breathed a word, all one would have to do is dismantle a SuperPAD to work it out.
---
The conversation we had been dreading came a few weeks later.
We were invited to an innocuous sounding meeting by the Prince of Theed, Yan Veruna, with the vague but promising topic of how the city could support our future expansion. My dealings with the prince so far had been cordial with none of the overt corruption that I had previously feared. I was therefore cautiously optimistic that this could be a constructive discussion. Given the opportunity, yet potential for missteps, I had decided to bring Cota as my deputy and Ameé as my legal adviser along.
We were greeted on arrival at the City Palace, a smaller tribute to the grand Royal Palace which housed Naboo's monarch. A junior city official guided us through to a grand meeting room, which was at the opulent end of what would be considered tasteful for the Naboo, a lot of marble and a little too much gold.
The prince was not alone, alongside him was a woman I knew by reputation as the Naboo Minister of Commerce, Nendi Taber, one of the few women in the current leadership. Her hair was up and big in a way the Naboo deemed regal, making her stand out almost as much as the third person in room.
I had never met a Neimoidian before, though as distant cousins of the Duros they didn't look too alien to me, seeing as I was well used to Zomir. This one happened to have blue-gray skin, with smaller rounder eyes than any Duros I had met. He was wearing dark navy robes with a matching elaborate hat, covering the large hairless head beneath.
"Thank you for coming John, and your colleagues?" Asked the prince politely.
I introduced Ameé and Cota, with the prince kissing their hands in impressively courtly style, before introducing us to Nendi. I greeted Nendi with every courtesy I could, knowing how dangerous she could be to our future expansion were she to take issue with us.
Then he turned to the Neimoidian, "And this is Hath Monchar, envoy of the Trade Federation to Naboo."
The Trade Federation involves many worlds, businesses and species, even at the level of its powerful Board of Directors, but the Neimoidians are always present. No matter the deal or nefarious scheme, there would always be one of their long-fingered hands somewhere on the tiller.
"A pleasure to meet you." I lied.
"Please, be seated." The prince guided us to a large table, with the three of us from Theed Tech taking one side and the dignitaries the other.
"We are grateful for the invitation my prince, and the interest you have shown in the success of our business." I began with a platitude. "I am however curious as to the purpose of this meeting."
"Well I, and I'm sure Minister Taber, have been very impressed by the expansion of Theed Tech. I was happy to support your planning applications for the construction projects you currently have underway in the city." The prince began, with the Minister nodding politely at his sentiments. "I had been thinking about how your continued expansion can benefit our city and I'm sure the Minister is interested in your wider ambitions for Naboo."
"I see, and what interest would an envoy of the Trade Federation have in our little operation?" I asked, getting at the elephant in the room.
"The Trade Federation is always interested in new business opportunities." Monchar replied amicably. "I am sure that you will be considering future expansion beyond Naboo, and we are here to facilitate that."
"Oh thank you, but that won't be necessary, we have our own shipping concern which meets our needs, but we appreciate the interest." Cota replied with a smile so warm and innocent, even I was impressed at the feigned authenticity.
"The Trade Federation has very extensive trade agreements with Naboo regarding its exports, it would be deeply regrettable if these were to be inadvertently breached." Monchar's tone remaining polite but with a hint more steel.
I noticed that the minister shuffled uncomfortably at this comment, while the prince made an effort to suppress his own reaction. The current version of the trade agreements that had been made earlier in King Veruna's reign, were highly unpopular with the Naboo. While many prominent people, especially the King, were said to have benefitted personally from them initially, overtime even some in the Naboo leadership were becoming uncomfortable.
"The trade agreements don't cover consumer electronics or their components. In terms of exports, they only cover plasma products." Ameé stepped in, her voice almost sickeningly sweet to soften the complete shutdown of Monchar's line of argument.
"Trade agreements can be amended; the intent was always that the Trade Federation be responsible for ensuring the security of Naboo's trade."
"Well, that would be a matter for the Naboo Government, though I am sure the Government will consider the perspective of local Naboo businesses in any future agreements." I reply, glancing at the Minister, who frowned slightly in response.
"These are dangerous times Mr Smith, particularly for traders. Many ships are attacked by pirates and worse. I would hate for your business to suffer because it lacked the protection of the Trade Federation." Monchar now slipping into the implicit threats that we had expected from the beginning.
"We appreciate the concern." I replied shortly, I turn to my attention to the prince and the minister "Was there anything else?"
---
Once we had returned from the place to Theed Tech, we gathered the senior staff to discuss what had occurred and what would mean for us going forward.
"So, we can expect even more attacks on our ships in future?" Ona asked, particularly worried given her role in managing our supply chain.
"Almost certainly, they might give us a little time to consider our situation, but we'll soon get the same coercive treatment that they apply to Rebaxan." Jestos replied grimly.
"Did you notice how the minister barely spoke a word all meeting?" Ameé asked?
"I suspect she's torn. The Trade Federation dominate the planetary economy so she can't afford to offend them, but she must realise siding with them against a Naboo based company would be extremely unpopular." Cota replied.
"Can a compromise be made?" Rushelli asked, as the newest to the team she hadn't been through this debate as often as the others.
"Even if we were willing to deal with the Trade Federation, let them be the ones to export our products in future, it wouldn't work." I said resignedly.
Jaarl stepped in to explain. "A big part of our successful business model is about undercutting overpriced products like holo-comms. Why do you think those kinds of devices are so expensive in the first place?"
"The Trade Federation." interjected Aria's hologram, with a cross tone that she normally reserved for the astromechs. I had allowed her to join our staff meetings, as she would just listen in anyway.
"So, they will want is to limit our business, so it doesn't threaten their other business interests." Eloy Chi added.
"Exactly, on worlds where they control the datapad market for example. Why would people buy numerous datapads when a single SuperPAD can replace the whole pile?" Cota asked rhetorically.
"In the end we knew this would happen sooner or later. This is why it's so important for us to build up our own shipping business, made up of ships that can protect themselves from these dangers." I said, bringing us to the bottom line.
"And how is that going?" Rushelli asked innocently.
Jaarl, Ona and I looked at each other.
"Fine." we all lied.