Captain Zorl asked many questions, so of which the governor’s had imdiate solutions to but the tough questions, none at the mont. One of those tough questions was the issue of the won being pricked, why would Zorl raise it in this eting and what kind of sicko was going around pricking won? Was it a kid playing a prank? The mall also had many caras, had none of them caught the criminal in the act?
"We will have a separate eting about the pricking thing later captain Zorl." she answered.
"Professor Sham would like to speak." Blad announced.
Esong nodded and all eyes looked at the doctor on the second row.
Professor Sham could have cared less about all those eyes because he was used to being looked at. In his profession, there was no room for shyness. "Governor, I would like to ask captain Zorl if the pricking is being done with small sharp needles."
Scarlet and Esong looked at Captain Zorl. They wondered how this was connected to anything but if it could help, they wanted to hear the answer as well.
"Yes," the captain Zorl.
Professor Sham then said, "We doctors have been studying psychology of the human mind and behavior very seriously. There is a disorder which causes so people to derive pleasure from pricking themselves or others with sharp objects. Since the captain said that the victims are all won then it’s likely that your culprit is a man. He could be getting sexual gratification from pricking the won, the act itself is called prickling."
"What?" soone asked in wonder.
"That’s crazy." another said.
"Then he should prickle himself and leave innocent won alone." soone else said loudly.
Scarlet recognized this voice as that belonging to her mother. The voices got louder as it seed like everyone had an opinion on the matter.
"Order, order, order." Blad continuously shouted.
He had to shout three tis because everyone was suddenly muttering and discussing the weirdness of what professor Sham had just shared.
"Everyone that is interested in this issue please approach professor Sham in your personal ti because we are discussing sothing else right now, tourism. Let’s get back on topic people." Scarlet banged on the armrest of her chair with her hand and said through a gaphone.
Order resud, and Blad asked minister Maurey to speak.
"We at city hall have been discussing this issue and we are of the opinion that we should sell tickets. We know that we can only handle a limited number of tourists at a ti and yet hundreds of millions of people have expressed their interest in visiting which is impossible. But if we put a price on the tickets then we can control those who visit right from set off point. This will also save us from having stranded visitors at our ports."
So officials nodded when he made this point, and Scarlet was among them. This would ensure that they made money from tourism even before the tourists landed on their planet.
"Minister Beord." Blad said.
"Greetings all," Beord said calmly, "I am simply raising a point of caution, if we overly price the tickets then we might discourage tourism rather than encourage it. There is no point in cultivating a greedy image for our governors. I hope you also know that the taxes we pay to the royal family will increase because we charge an access fee to our planet."
"We are planning to range from one hundred to five thousand star coins per ticket." This was announced by minister Maurey who still had the floor to expand on his main point and answer the concerns of other officials.
His words caused gasps and shocked expressions on many faces. Even Blad appeared to be scandalized, as if he had just witnessed the most carnal sins being acted out in front of him.
"Proposterous!!!" He exclaid.
"Silence." Esong yelled.
"Everyone should calm down and rember that this is why we are here. It’s to share opinions and co up with appropriate solutions to so of the issues. Now I am inclined to disagree with so of the officers and minister Maurey. How many people in our own star earn five thousand star coins monthly?"
Minister Maurey who was not expecting such an outrage at his suggestion nervously replied, "No_, none."
"Doesn’t that make it ridiculous then to charge such an amount for tickets? Let’s be realistic and set prices that will not have people calling us thieves or exploiters." Scarlet told him.
"One hundred to one thousand star coins makes much more sense." Esong suggested. "Those who pay more can access so special facilities that we do not open to non-citizens."
His suggestion was noted down and t with more agreeableaness than minister Maurey’s.
"Minister Rodney." Blad said.
He called his son’s na with a smile on his face and pride seeping through his bones.
Minister Rodney said, "The opening up of our planet to tourists is going to bring the demand for food up. If possible, we would like city hall to assign the agricultural base their own floors in so buildings in London so that we can open up more restaurants. We cannot simply rely on those who wish to open up businesses to fill this gap, thank you."
Nobody had an opinion on this issue so they moved on to the next one.
From where she was sitting, Scarlet knew that it was bound to be a very long eting and perhaps it should have been scheduled for the morning hours. A morning to evening eting suited her better than one which run into the night.
For another hour, they argued over expenditures, how the money from ticket sales could be distributed and the length of touring days for any one individual.
"So tourists could try to stay back, find work or move on to our star illegally." Adler raised this point with much vehence. "A two month visa for a tourist is ridiculous because we don’t many places for one to go sightseeing after all."
"I agree with him, shorter visas will ensure that they are here and gone just as quickly which ans that they will have less ti to engage in mischief. There is an active case in the capital of human trafficking, children are being targeted especially. Our Blue star has been relatively safe because of our small population, careful surveillance and maximum vigilance. The more strangers co into our midst, the more danger we invite to ourselves." Captain Zorl, equally as vehent as Adler raised this point.
Murmurs followed his opinion and people looked at each other with inquisitiveness. How did they not hear about such a big case? If the planet was opened up to tourists would their children be in danger?
It was inevitable for worry to be aroused mostly among those that had children. On the Blue star, children had much more freedom than they did in the capital. They walked ho after school in groups, participated in sports activities in the evenings and went shopping on their own. Would this have to change?
At the front, Esong who was aware of the case shook his head as he looked at Captain Zorl unhappily. Had he co to the eting to make helpful suggestions or share the latest cri waves in the empire?
"Silence." He called out. "We can table that issue later. Let’s move on to sothing else."
Reviews
All reviews (0)