Davidson sat them all down around the briefing table, his expression more serious than usual. "Before we reach the trade show, we need to discuss the various threats we've identified. The viral campaign and Amara's own selective leaks of your potential have been more successful than expected, which means attention from groups we'd rather avoid."
He activated a holographic display filled with profiles and organisational webs that painted a complex picture of corporate and political interests. "This isn't just a trade show. It's become a battleground where corporations, governments, and intelligence agencies will compete for access to your technology."
The first cluster of profiles appeared: master builders with their subtle confidence and predatory intelligence. "First, the master builders. You've met Garret, Elizabeth, and Klein, but others will also be at the event. Do not underestimate their knowledge and information networks. I'm not worried about physical threats, but what you need to be ready for are the intellectual games. They'll try to corner you on panels, push you into debates designed to make you give away more than you intend, or trap you with 'friendly' contracts that seem beneficial but contain poison clauses."
Tanya studied the faces, noting how Davidson's intelligence dossiers revealed the calculated minds behind the public reputations. Some were networkers, others strategists or predators cloaked as peers. She made sure to note each of them and to be wary of them during the show.
"Klein is my biggest concern," Davidson continued, highlighting his file. "He plays the reasonable ally, but he's a master of leading questions. He'll flatter you, present himself as supportive, and in the process extract key details about your fabrication methods. We also suspect he was behind the recording devices on the Vanguard. He'll plant evidence, deflect blame, and walk away looking innocent while owning your intellectual property."
Tanya frowned. "He seemed like the most open-minded of the three when I met him."
"Exactly," Davidson said flatly. "Garret bludgeons you with ambition, Elizabeth confronts you directly. Klein looks like a collaborator while pulling the rug out from under you. If you underestimate him, he'll walk away owning half your work through seemingly innocent technical discussions."
The display shifted to show corporate structures that resembled military command hierarchies. "Vortex drive manufacturers are mobilising their legal divisions. They've filed 'preliminary patent reviews' that could be weaponised against you if you claim too much publicly. They can't touch your shielding technology directly without admitting some proprietary secrets they'd prefer to keep buried, but they'll try to drag you into regulatory limbo with compliance audits, licensing hurdles, even trade court hearings. Their goal isn't to beat you but to bury you in paperwork until you sell out your knowledge or your funding runs dry."
Amara's expression darkened. "Which means their representatives will be recording every demonstration, waiting for you to make one claim too many. If you state that your shielding bypasses vortex drives' internal safety programming, they'll have grounds for immediate legal action. One wrong phrase could cost us months and millions in legal fees."
"There's also the insurance angle," Davidson added, pulling up another layer of corporate connections. "Three major spacecraft insurers are attending, ostensibly to evaluate new technologies for coverage. In reality, they're working with the drive manufacturers. They'll classify your ships as 'experimental hazards' requiring prohibitive premiums, effectively pricing you out of the commercial market. Amara and you will have to try and win them over."
Janet leaned forward with interest. "That's remarkably coordinated for supposedly independent corporations."
"Because they're not independent," Davidson replied grimly. "The vortex drive consortium is a private arm of the government. They have board members sitting on insurance companies, regulatory agencies, and even university research committees. This isn't just corporate competition, it is economic warfare."
The display shifted to government profiles, revealing a web of national interests. "Political players are equally dangerous. The Fall Kingdom has operatives attending, ostensibly to keep tabs on Cameron and Janet, but we know they're equally interested in your technology. They understand the strategic implications of gardener partnerships and the opportunities they provide."
Cameron shifted uncomfortably. "Our family has formal agreements with Fall intelligence services. They shouldn't be a problem."
Janet nodded in agreement. "We've maintained proper diplomatic protocols."
"I wouldn't trust those agreements in this context," Davidson said bluntly. "To them, you're citizens who've seen something they don't control or fully understand. They'll test your loyalty to Tanya through attractive job offers, research funding, or subtle pressure on your family back home. They know which buttons to push. Do not underestimate their knowledge of your psychology."
He pulled up communication intercepts and travel records. "They've already positioned three 'cultural attachés' at the show, along with a technology assessment team disguised as trade representatives. Their approach will be formal requests for 'safety inspections' or attempts to recruit you with resources that dwarf anything you can get on your own."
The display expanded to show additional government interests. "The Meridian Collective is sending their Advanced Technology Assessment Division. They specialise in acquiring emerging technologies through shell companies and proxy partnerships. They'll approach you as potential investors, offering massive funding in exchange for 'limited' technology sharing agreements that gradually transfer control."
"Don't forget the academic angle," Amara added, highlighting several university profiles. "Three major engineering schools have sent 'research collaboration' teams. They'll propose joint studies, student exchange programs, even honorary positions. The goal is getting Cameron and Janet into their labs where they can be studied, debriefed, and potentially recruited away from you."
The final profile dominated the display: stark black and gold Imperial insignia. "The Hallow Guard will also be present," Davidson said, his tone sharpening. "They operate as auditors of Imperial stability. They answer only to the Emperor. Their question will be: are you an asset to cultivate, or a destabilising force that needs containment?"
He showed them dossiers of Guard operatives who specialised in technology assessment. "Their pressure will come through staged interviews and mandatory security disclosures. If you resist, they'll classify you as a potential security risk. If you comply, you'll bleed away your technological advantages. They're also coordinating with customs authorities, so one wrong answer and your equipment gets 'randomly selected' for extended inspection, effectively holding your demonstration hostage."
"A lose-lose situation," Tanya muttered.
"Not if you learn to control the conversation," Davidson replied. "The trick is never letting them define the terms. You don't owe answers to every question, and you don't owe cooperation to every official badge waved in your face. But you need to be subtle, as direct refusal gives them justification for escalation. Amara will give you some training before we arrive"
Amara leaned forward, studying the corporate profiles. "What about recruitment and poaching operations beyond the government agencies?"
"High probability and sophisticated execution," Davidson admitted. "Janet and Cameron will be prime targets for corporate headhunters working with psychological assessment teams. Major aerospace firms will dangle resources, private labs, and salary packages that Furrow Inc. can't compete with. The threat is the public spectacle of being seen as tempted. Corporate intelligence will orchestrate 'accidental' encounters, arrange for attractive job offers to be overheard, even stage scenarios where refusing seems unreasonable."
He showed them intercepted corporate communications. "Stellar Dynamics has allocated fifty million credits specifically for acquiring your team members. The pressure will be intense."
The display shifted to show the trade show layout with threat assessments overlaid. "We've mapped probable surveillance positions, identified likely confrontation zones, and tracked which booths are covers for intelligence operations." Red zones marked areas of high corporate concentration, while amber zones showed government presence.
"With the threats laid out, let's discuss our defensive positioning," Amara said, switching to their booth strategy. "We've booked a modest but deliberate position that is off the main corridor but visible from three key vantage points. People will have to seek us out, which filters casual browsers while ensuring serious prospects can find us."
She outlined their four-day plan with military precision. "Day one: controlled networking. Day two: the live atmospheric demonstration, this will be the moment of maximum visibility and vulnerability. Day three: industry panels and recruitment defence. Day four: selective technical reveals of beacon technology and shielding principles."
Davidson's expression grew even darker. "Day four is the flashpoint. Once you reveal dimensional shielding capabilities, the effects will be obvious to everyone: military applications, energy manipulation, and fundamental advances in physics. Every intelligence service and corporate boardroom will pivot their entire strategy toward you. Some of them may resort to unsavoury methods"
He showed them projected scenarios. "Best case: you maintain control while building strategic partnerships. Worst case: You and your technology get taken and reverse-engineered by competitors. Most likely case: you'll face coordinated pressure from multiple directions simultaneously, designed to force hasty decisions."
When the briefing ended, Red motioned for Tanya, Cameron, Janet, and Amara to follow him. "Training room," he said simply.
"Training?" Tanya asked, already feeling overwhelmed.
"Not combat," Red clarified. "Intellectual survival. Corporate warfare isn't fought with weapons—it's fought with contracts, conversations, and calculated pressure."
The cruiser's training bay had been transformed into a convincing replica of a trade floor: booths, demonstration areas, and crowds simulated on holo-screens. The attention to detail was impressive and slightly unnerving.
Waiting were two operatives Tanya hadn't seen before. Blue appeared unremarkably professional with the kind face you'd forget immediately. Green possessed an unsettling quality where her features seemed to shift subtly depending on the angle of view.
"Blue will act as your technical aide during the show," Red explained. "Green handles logistics and crowd management. In reality, they're counterintelligence specialists trained to recognise manipulation tactics and extract you from dangerous conversations and situations."
Green spoke with crisp efficiency. "Most threats at trade shows are conversational traps. Loaded questions designed to elicit specific responses, false contract discussions that establish legal precedents, and staged interviews that seem casual but are being recorded. You'll practice recognising when someone's trying to force a statement you'll later regret."
Blue nodded, adjusting his sleeve in what Tanya realised was a demonstration. "We'll also drill subtle communication signals. If I adjust my sleeve like this, it means you're walking into a potential patent claim. If Green brushes her hair back, it means the conversation is being recorded by hostile parties. These aren't panic cues; they are more gentle nudges to redirect or gracefully disengage."
Red led them through increasingly sophisticated scenarios. Blue played various roles: a rival engineer trying to extract fabrication details through technical admiration, a patent attorney disguised as an academic researcher, even a potential investor whose questions probed for proprietary information.
Tanya stumbled initially, her natural inclination toward technical honesty making her overexplain when pressed. But she learned to answer with purposeful ambiguity, providing enough information to maintain credibility without revealing crucial details.
Cameron, to everyone's surprise, excelled at the exercises. Years of avoiding state surveillance had made him skilled at appearing cooperative while revealing nothing substantive. He could discuss complex engineering principles for twenty minutes without actually explaining how anything worked.
Janet adapted quickly, her natural charisma allowing her to deflect intrusive questions with charming redirections. Amara treated every trap like a business negotiation, methodically identifying the other party's real objectives before crafting her responses.
"Thunderstorm," Red said suddenly during one exercise.
Tanya froze, uncertain.
"Code word for active surveillance," Green prompted gently. "Don't stop what you're doing, instead, shift the conversation to something harmless. Save sensitive discussions for secured private spaces where you can enlist Amara to help."
They practised the hand signals until they became second nature. A particular way of holding a tablet meant "legal trap." Touching an earpiece indicated "hostile recording." Adjusting a collar warned of "financial manipulation."
"Lightning," Red announced during another scenario.
This time Tanya responded correctly, politely excusing herself from the conversation and moving to a different area. Lightning meant immediate disengagement, to stop talking, smile politely, and leave. No arguments, no justifications, just professional withdrawal.
"The key," Blue explained as they worked through increasingly complex scenarios, "is maintaining your professional reputation while protecting your intellectual property. You want to seem open and collaborative without actually being vulnerable."
They practised dealing with coordinated attacks, such as situations where multiple questioners would work together to extract information through seemingly unrelated conversations. Green showed them how corporate intelligence teams operated, using social mapping to identify who talked to whom and when.
"Most sophisticated operations involve what we call 'mosaic intelligence,'" she explained. "No single conversation reveals anything sensitive, but when combined, dozens of innocent exchanges create a complete picture of your capabilities and limitations."
The final exercise was the most challenging: a simulated panel discussion where hostile questioners tried to force Tanya into technical demonstrations that would reveal proprietary methods of her devices. Blue and Green played audience members asking loaded questions designed to make refusing seem evasive or incompetent.
"The atmospheric surfing footage shows remarkable stability in severe turbulence," Blue said in his role as a supposed physicist. "Could you explain the specific energy distribution algorithms that maintain hull integrity during dimensional stress events?"
Tanya had learned to recognise the trap. "That's an excellent question that touches on some fascinating physics principles. The fundamental challenge in atmospheric surfing involves managing stress using our unique system. I'd be happy to discuss the theoretical framework in general terms, though specific implementation details are naturally proprietary."
It was a perfect non-answer that sounded substantive while revealing nothing actionable.
By the end of the training session, Tanya's head throbbed with code words, hand signals, and conversational strategies, but she also felt steadier. The trade show no longer seemed like an overwhelming chaos of threats, she started to see it as a complex game with rules she was beginning to understand.
"Most of what we've practised won't be needed," Blue said as they concluded the exercises. "The majority of attendees are legitimate business people and genuine enthusiasts. But the ones who target you will expect you to be naive, overwhelmed, and easily manipulated. You won't be."
"Remember," Green added, "your greatest protection is staying calm and thinking before you speak. Every conversation is potentially being recorded, every handshake might be with a competitor, and every friendly offer could have strings attached."
Red's expression was grim but satisfied as they left the training bay. "Try to rest tonight. Tomorrow we reach Trexlor Station, and the real games begin. You're as prepared as we can make you, but stay alert, as the trade show floor is going to be a battlefield disguised as a business exhibition."