Chapter 9
As Franklin walked into Sir Patrick's office he felt completely drained, both mentally and physically, but he tried to at least appear somewhat awake.
"Mr. Adams to see you Sir." Sir Patricks secretary said as she ushered him in, then turned and left.
"Excellent, come in Franklin, you look exhausted have a seat."
"Thank you Sir," He said as he moved in front of the seat before remembering the bruises on his ass. Mistress Shan hadn't hit him very hard but it was enough to leave a few welts and bruises. "But I'd prefer to stand."
Sir Patrick's expression never changed although Franklin knew that the old diplomat knew exactly why Franklin wasn't sitting.
"We can keep this quick then. Did she agree to our proposal?"
"She did Sir, with a few caveats however. She wants us to pay the rent on her apartment while shes away, and because of occupancy laws on the citadel she needs someone to house sit her apartment. She specifically requested me, but that may be negotiable."
Sir Patrick leaned back in his chair deep in thought. "No that shouldn't be a problem, it would be good for us to have a presence on the Citadel no matter what happens with these negotiations."
"Are they not going well Sir?"
"Parts of them are going well. The technological exchange is frankly incredible, they would be handing us decades worth of knowledge and technology. But they have some draconian laws regarding genetic modification. Under their laws several treatments that currently exist for genetic diseases that affect infants would be banned. We're trying to find a compromise but the diplomat in charge of that part of the negotiations seems to just think we're playing hard ball and isn't budging."
"I understand Sir, both of my parents have the recessive gene for Paxton-Girrilis Syndrome. Without invitro treatments I wouldn't be here now. Could this derail the entire negotiation sir?"
"It's possible, no politician wants to be known for bending knee to a foreign government and allowing babies to die of treatable diseases, but I am confident that cooler heads will prevail. Excellent work Franklin, now I want Doctor Suter to take a look at you, then you can get some rest."
Franklin was about to protest, he felt fine, aside from some tenderness on his ass and legs, but stopped when he saw Sir Patrick's expression.
"Yes Sir."
Leaving Franklin went looking for the chief medical officer for the expedition.