April nodded, interested, but not demanding details immediately, as she had news.
"I had a talk with Chen yesterday. I told him I'd brief you when you returned rather than interrupt you on the moon."
"Thanks, what did he have?" Jeff asked and took a sip of her good coffee.
"You wanted James Weir's partners checked out. Remember? It seems we didn't ask enough questions. Fortunately Chen continued looking into them on his own initiative."
Jeff just gave a look of interest and didn't interrupt.
"We checked their immigration status and parents, but totally failed to ask after their siblings," April said ruefully.
"Ahh. . . " Jeff did say aloud.
"The partner with French parents has a brother who is number two in the French space agency, and his sister is among the directors of the French central bank," April said.
"Well, his parents did a fine job raising them all to high expectations didn't they?"
"Indeed," April agreed. "Chen was able to place them all meeting together on several occasions, not just at grandma's house for cookies and milk, but at government offices with senior officials."
"Amazing. After hearing most of the details, our new pilot, Deloris, predicted it would be France behind the whole star ship project rather than North America."
"I'd say she's a keeper, maybe for bigger things, if she's that perceptive," April suggested.
"We have a good relationship with France. Why would Weir hide that?" Jeff asked.
"Who said he even knew?" April asked. "They were business partners not buddies. Take yourself as an example. Do you know if Dave has siblings or what they do?"
"Good point," Jeff agreed. "We just talk business and I'd feel nosy to even ask anything about his personal life. We don't belong to any clubs or anything together."
"Besides, they're getting everything they want out of us right now," April pointed out.
"Perhaps they think for some reason that revealing the ultimate backers and users would cause us to raise objections," Jeff speculated.
"Or perhaps they have internal dissension over us. Perhaps there are factions opposed to closer relations," April said. "They never have formally recognized us. And they technically are still part of the European Union. The member states still pay lip service to it, while doing their own thing. Whatever reason, they think secrecy is an advantage for now."
"It's a small advantage to know France is behind the star-drive when they think it a secret." Jeff decided. "I'm not sure how we'll ever use it, but we'll keep the secret and know the motives behind their public actions better for that knowledge."
"But we have everything we need now, don't we?" April asked.
"Need? Yes, I think so. We have a better drive to get out ahead of the herd. Thanks to Barak I think we can go very far faster than them. We have the funding needed thanks to Heather and Dave volunteering. You've convinced me we can raise more if need be, without unduly diluting the potential payout." He stopped on an odd note, without finality, like he wasn't done.
"Is there something else?" April asked him.
"Time. All we need is a little more time to put it all in motion."
END
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A Sudden Departure (April Book 9) Page 35