Loans, Loans, Wonderful Loans!

[Melvand Zrimmir]

Normally, there were several low level and mid level suits to deal with loans, but this was not an average loan. First off, it was a mighty sum of one million credits, no small petty cash. Secondly, it was a loan to a fairly large start up, Merrill-Valkner Systems Engineering. So, Zrimmir himself was attending this loan application approval process, hopefully one he could move along quickly. As much as he appreciated the business he had a chocked up day.

Zrimmir waited impatiently at his office, where no doubt [member="Mara Merrill-Valkner"] was being led to by one of his assistants now. He checked his watch for the third time in the last quarter hour, not that Mara was late, he just felt like time would somehow move faster the more he checked his wrist watch.

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

"[member="Melvand Zrimmir"]? Thank you for agreeing to meet with me. I'm Mara Merrill. Valkner," she added hastily. "Sorry, the double-barreled name isn't intuitive yet: newlywed."

She took a seat and placed a small holoprojector on his desk. It began rolling through spinning images of starship components, plus footage of ships using their special capabilities. Notably, none were weapons.

"So what would you like to know?"

 

[Melvand Zrimmir]

He made a small smile when he replied, "Yes, yes I am."

When [member="Mara Merrill-Valkner"] set down the holoprojector, he swiped across a few of their products but didn't pay much attention, it wasn't what he was interested in. Business practices, sales numbers, and company clients were all that mattered to Zrimmir, and ZUBU. Although his company had already done a comprehensive check, it was always required to have at least one meeting with the client themselves before accepting a loan application.

"My first question, what is your average clientele. By that I mean, companies, governments, and the business they participate in."

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Melvand Zrimmir"]

Straight to business, then. She'd known plenty of people like this, and tended to respect their focus and intellect. "We sell to three groups: individual buyers, governments, and shipbuilders. Our individual customers tend to be independent operators, usually people who ship small cargoes through the Outer Rim and Wild Space. We have a small stable of government relationships: we're exploring expansion into the Hapes Cluster, and we've had a face-to-face meeting with their Queen Mother." Granted, that meeting had taken place on a busy street by chance encounter at the South Systems Bazaar Expo, but Zrimmir didn't need to know that.

"Our bread and butter, though, is in the supply chain for shipyards. Most shipbuilders create their own components, all of them; we've had some success convincing them that we can do it better and cheaper. Shipbuilder supply makes up fifty percent of our revenue, and we're aiming for sixty. We've had talks with Primo Victorian, and we recently signed a contract with Corellian Engineering Corporation to provide components for a line of luxury yachts. I recently had a sneak peek at the prototype yacht, and it's going to be something special."

 

[Melvand Zrimmir]

Although Zrimmir was still listening, he picked up when [member="Mara Merrill-Valkner"] began describing their relationship with shipyards. It was a stable business practice with nothing but profit. When she finished speaking, he leaned forward and finger tented. Grinning thinly, he spoke,

"That is certainly something we bankers like to hear, security. You did apply for one of our riskier loans, so I personally wanted to ensure you're business was stable enough for such an agreement. "

Zrimmir took a breath and continued,

"My next question is your sales numbers of the last quarter, profitable I hope?"

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Melvand Zrimmir"]

"Absolutely. Here you are."

She tapped her datapad, and the holoprojector switched from ship components to audited financial statements. They displayed erratic but upward-trending revenue - as well as the kind of expenses that came from rapid prototyping and production setup for a variety of product lines.

"As you can see from the numbers, we've set ourselves some ambitious targets and we've succeeded in establishing a diverse stable of products. And here are the per-product projections.

They all looked roughly the same: initial R&D and factory setup outlay, followed by upward-trending growth.

"I think you'll agree we've tapped into a real market here. We're one of the very few companies that focus on starship components, and all of our product lines have attracted buyer attention."

 

[Melvand Zrimmir]

Zrimmir nodded silently as he reviewed the information himself. Everything seemed in order, which made Zrimmir more than happy. Finished, he looked up and replied to [member="Mara Merrill-Valkner"], "Yes, I believe you at em-vee-ess-ee definitely have."

Without asking, Zrimmir deactivated Mara's holoprojector and handed to the space,

"I see everything is in order then. Do you have any questions, Ms. Merrill-Valkner?"

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Melvand Zrimmir"]

"None."

She'd had Finance run the numbers exhaustively. Five years from now, MVSE would owe the Neimoidians something on the order of four hundred thousand credits over and above the principle, which honestly wasn't too bad given growth projections.

Well, the projections, and the million in cold hard cash she was about to get. And that million would pay licensing and derivation fees for some of the frankly insane starship components coming out of her father's workshop, the Wretched Hive.

"Pleasure doing business with you, Mister Zrimmir."

 

[Melvand Zrimmir]

"Good."

He brought out a datapad of his own, "Your loan application has been approved." He pressed his thumb to the read attached to the pad, once it beeped, he handed it to [member="Mara Merrill-Valkner"] to do the same.

Once she did, Melvand would set the datapad down, and stand up, reaching out to shake her hand.

"As it has been with you, Ms. Merrill-Valkner."

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Melvand Zrimmir"]

She signed the document with a thumbprint and shook his hand happily. There was a deep satisfaction to getting things done on her own power, with her own wits and resources and ideas, rather than relying on the various advantages of her family. Some of it couldn't be avoided and wasn't too much of a problem for her individual dignity, of course: she might not have known about the Hive's new pyronium-based technology otherwise, for one. But overall, MVSE was based on revenue from her investment choices; none of her inheritance went into it, ever. Someday she might be asked to choose between her dignity and the ability to keep her staff employed on three planets, but the forseeable future held nothing along those lines.

"Just out of curiosity, Mister Zrimmer -- if you wanted your own personal ship to have one capability, what would it be? Sky's no limit."

 

[Melvand Zrimmir]

Melvand rubbed his chin and replied to [member="Mara Merrill-Valkner"]'s question,

"Stealth capability, I prefer to stay away from armed conflicts."

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Melvand Zrimmir"]

"Quite understandable. Thank you again, Mister Zrimmir. We'll be in touch."