Page 2 of Breaking Point
Devar chuckled, too.
“Why do you want to speak to Falcon, Luciana?”Caelen asked.
“Do you know him?”Luciana said.
“I don’t think anyone knows him, much,” Caelen said.“He leaves all the PR and communications stuff to his general manager, um…”
“Bronson Summitt,” Devar supplied.
“Bronson Summitt,” Caelen went on, with a quick smile of thanks at Devar.“Falcon just directs everything and everyone else sees that it gets done.”
“He does a bit more than that,” Devar said.“There was a time when tankball games were lucky to have a dozen people watching them.Now you have to fight for tickets to a game—I’ve watched you do it.Capacity crowds at every game…theEndurancecomes to a halt whenever there is a game on.”
“Hardly,” Caelen said, with teasing tone.“It will take theEndurancea hundred years to slow to a halt.”
“Engineer,” Devar accused her.
“Coder,” she shot back.
They smiled at each other.
Luciana sipped her champagne, a glow of pleasure warming her.Her son washappy.
She was almost tempted to forget about business tonight, even with Brice Falcon sitting right over there, and soak in the sight of Devar and Caelen enjoying each other’s company.
Devar stirred, and pulled his attention back to Luciana.“Anyway, when there is a game on, everything inside theEndurancehalts.That’s unprecedented in the history of the ship.And that change happened when Brice Falcon took the President’s chair.So he might stay locked in his tower, but he isn’t doing nothing.”
“And I thought you hated tankball,” Caelen teased.
“I don’thateit,” Devar said, his tone serious.“I just find it…irritating.Too much is decided by chance.The gravity of the ball at any one time, when the gravity changes—it’s too many random factors.Chess, now…that is pure logic and reasoning.”
“Isn’t what your opponent plays a factor of chance?”Caelen asked, before Luciana could point it out.
“It’s just new data, which can be incorporated into calculating your next move,” Devar replied.
“That’s exactly why I like tankball,” Caelen said.“You never know what will happen next.It’s exciting.Thrilling, even—especially in the finals.Upsets are some of the best games!”
Devar shook his head sadly.“It’s a good thing I loveallof you.”
Caelen laughed.“All of me but especially my brain.”
Devar’s smile had a touch of wickedness.“No, that wasn’t it…” he said, and scratched his chin as if he was straining to remember.
Caelen slapped his arm.
Luciana got to her feet, which took a bit of effort, as her ballgown had a dozen layers underneath the red and black fabric.It was an outrageously exotic and over the top gown, one of the most elaborate in the room.That was part of the fun for Luciana.This was the only night in the year when one could wear such a garment.
“You’re going to talk to him?”Devar asked, sounding both surprised and alarmed.
“Stars, no.I want to talk business with him.Strong arming him into a confrontation will just make him resent me and kill any business we might do.”
Devar looked relieved.
“I’ll be back in a minute,” Luciana told them.She headed for the washrooms, which were inside the arena, while the ball itself was held in front of the building, in a securely roped off area that was shielded, here and there, with screens holding flowers and greenery.Anyone standing out in the Aventine could glimpse the attendees dancing and drinking through the gaps in the screens.
Many of the images that appeared on the Forum in the days after the ball were taken through those gaps.
It just seemed to drive the popularity of the ball even higher.
