“Choice is obvious,” Fenstermacher said.  “This DeWitt woman.”

“Agreed,” Fanshaw said.  “Have to sell it to the General Committee.  Shouldn’t be difficult.”

Chelan response

Senior officers at Bulger Spaceship Holdings stared at Tara Broadhurst’s analysis of the new Republic legislation.  They’d already watched the events in the Senates and Lords, the video of Elektra DeWitt asking for a vote of no confidence in the First Minister.

“Oh, joy,” Elaine Bell said. “Now we’re going to have the Union Senate, the press, the American Federal Senate, and God knows who else on our backs complaining  that we didn’t start building starships thirty minutes after we took possession of the Yards.”

“Someone may propose nationalizing our works,” Tara Broadhurst said.  “Unconstitutional, three ways from Sunday, but a distraction.”

“Fortunately,”  Chelan said, “we have this long-term contract, non-transferrable, with Elizavetsia,  so anything that interferes however slightly with our ability to satisfy that contract falls under American, not Union, law.   Elektra knows this, and since the Kingdom of Scotland has citizens with similar rights under Scottish Law, she will be protecting us.  Yes, taking salmon from a particular stream is less impressive than building spaceships, but they will see that the issue is the same.   Some Bulger creditors have operations outside the Anglic Union, and may come under  pressure from those sides.  However, I very seriously doubt that American courts will be sympathetic to nationalizing something so long as we are running it.”

“You have a thought?” Charles Smith asked. “What we should do?”

“Not full details.  Roughly speaking, we keep paying off the small creditors who want their money back. The major creditors are asked to throttle back their repayments, meaning they get more money but later, and we have more money for rebuilding, sooner. The investment banks may well agree; the credit unions have repayment needs.  Separately, Oregon Chancery Court must agree.  Perhaps the Union can be persuaded to buy up inconvenient parts of the debt.”