The Veldt Is Not Enough (Bernadette and James)

[Sicarius07]

Bernadette Ritter

Bernadette always thought of cricket as just really slow Yankee baseball.

While looking, Bernadette made silent notes about things the ANC might be talking about, and potential mitigations - preparing for the meeting at hand.

[farothel]

James McDermott

 

James would keep the conversation up until they were at the airport. There he would head to Avis or Hertz to rent a car that would take them back and make them more mobile and less dependent on others for their transport needs. If possible he would rent a sturdy car that could also do some offroading, just in case.

[Silent Hunter UK]

On 2/28/2024 at 6:30 PM, farothel said:

James McDermott

 

James would keep the conversation up until they were at the airport. There he would head to Avis or Hertz to rent a car that would take them back and make them more mobile and less dependent on others for their transport needs. If possible he would rent a sturdy car that could also do some offroading, just in case.

The airport hire car staff were a bit confused at his request for an off-road vehicle, but after some discussion, they were able to refer him to a company back in the city that organised game hunting trips and might have a Land Rover they could hire him. It occurred that the roads in Soweto were probably not that good and if he headed out in a "city car", there was a decent chance that he'd end up losing the deposit from damage.

The Avis employee said he would make a call and get back to him. In the meantime, he should get a cup of coffee or something, as it might take a while.

[Sicarius07]

Bernadette Ritter

"Why do I get the feeling that we're just a little too intense for what they thought we were?" Bernadette tried to put herself in the first good mood she had since her last semi-failed mission.

[farothel]

James McDermott

 

"No problem," James said to the AVIS employee, "we're prospecting for a travel agency and therefore we might come into situations where we need a bit more car than the regular tourist. If only to tell said tourists that they should be careful."

He would leave the AVIS people to think about how this could help their profits and went in search for some coffee.

"Given the fact that most roads outside of the cities and the major connectors between the cities will be dirt roads, it makes sense to ask for such a car," he said to Bernadette, "they're probably not used to loads of tourists anyway. Most people flying in are probably business people for the mining industry and tourists mostly do guided tours in the Kruger park, or around Cape Town."

[Sicarius07]

Bernadette Ritter

"Oh sure, I imagine the tours probably have their own vehicles. Good idea though, appeal to their greed. Hopefully we can find a way to appeal to someone else's while we're here."

[Silent Hunter UK]

James found some coffee at a nearby bar. They also did plenty of other drinks options, both soft and hard. He noticed a number of Japanese businessmen sitting around a table discussing something in that language, looking over a bunch of paperwork and promotional material.

Twenty minutes later, the man came walking over from the AVIS desk.

"Good news, I've found a Land Rover from a local company that is available for you to hire. You'll need to negotiate the fee with them, but they're coming out with it now. Be about an hour."

[farothel]

James McDermott

 

"Thank you very much for your efforts," James said to the AVIS employee, slipping him a few dollars, "you've been a tremendous help. We'll just stay here. The coffee isn't half bad."

[Sicarius07]

Bernadette Ritter

"Well, we have some time to kill then. Should we go over our negotiation strategy?" Bernadette offered, offering a pad, paper, and lighter for when they were done.

[farothel]

James McDermott

 

"Sure, what do you have in mind," James asked. He knew he wasn't the best in these kinds of things, so any help was welcome for him.

[Sicarius07]

Bernadette Ritter

Bernadette sat, she knew plenty of negotiation theory in her prior life. While speaking, even if she could be overheard, she would just be someone talking about something she knew, nothing sinister at all, especially for a secretary. "Negotiation theory is all about identifying goals, information exchange, and the ability to create the appearance of value. In any negotiation environment, information is ultimately power, so you want the other party in the dark as much as possible, simply so you have the ability to create value and extract a higher price."

On the paper, Bernadette wrote down a few things.

"What do they want, and how can we give it to them as cheaply as possible?"
"What options do they think they have, and how can we make them more expensive?"
"What can they give us, and how can we make it as cheap as possible?"

Below that, she wrote potential ideas. "Stronger sanctions?" "Trade" "Weapons" and her personal favorite "Soviet hypocrisy."

 

[Silent Hunter UK]

It occurred to both of them to check what the ANC's actual plans were for running the country, considering they were quite close to the local (outlawed by the government, of course) Communist Party.

A white man in a brown suit came over to the Japanese men and after some mutual bowing, the group of them left, but not before the latter left some notes on the table as a form of tip. Along with an actual notepad.

[farothel]

James McDermott

 

"You pass that way on the way to the bathroom," James whispered to Bernadette, before standing up and heading towards the bar.

"Hey," he said, quite loud, "Can we get another coffee and maybe something to eat. Burger and fries. And quickly."

Edited March 30 by farothel (see edit history)

[Sicarius07]

Bernadette Ritter

As James began his spiel, Bernadette made a big performance of coughing, as if she needed something to drink, or something had went down the wrong tube. Hurriedly, she got up, faking cough after cough, napkin in hand, making a beeline for the bathroom. When the loud American went as loud as he could be, she waited for the crescendo, the absolute loudness that only an American could provide, she moved her hand down, covered the notebook with the napkin, then tucked it in. Once in the bathroom, she looked to unveil her treasure - and hoped it wasn't in Japanese.

[Silent Hunter UK]

"We don't do burgers and fries here", the barman said. "The restaurant over there might do those, but to be honest, wouldn't you want to eat proper South African food. You can get that stuff back at home. Ever tried biltong."

****

Hope is a town in several American states. It was not very much help here as the notebook was indeed written in Japanese.