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looks at you when she speaks. She’s a contract lawyer, and a fucking good one. You think she would take a losing case?”
    “I didn’t know why anyone would take this case until you stood up just now—and now it makes sense. I think she’s betting on you cracking like this, just like the rest of them. She’s betting on you not trusting your counsel, which, once again, is exactly what you’ve been doing. How many lawyers have told you these people simply don’t have a case?”
    “Just you. And one other. The first one.”
    “And you didn’t trust him.”
    “I did trust him. But I told him the same thing I told you. It doesn’t matter if they have a case or not. We can’t go to court, or we lose the investors.”
    “And did he suggest calling their bluff?”
    “Of course he did. But he and the investors disagreed on two of the exact same things you said. One is that they’ll back down and not take a losing case to court. If they really do have a losing case, then it’s a loss if they take us to court, but also a loss if they give in and come down on their demands. If they lose either way, who’s to say they won’t pick the loss that brings me down too? Which is the other point. Bad press never goes away. Once you’re accused, it doesn’t matter who wins or loses. You’ve already lost your credibility in the eyes of future investors, not to mention current ones. And I don’t think you’re clairvoyant enough to know for sure that they’ll back down, or that I can weather the PR storm if we go to court.”
    “So you don’t trust me.”
    He faltered. “I want to. Yesterday I did, when you came with a good game plan. But we didn’t talk about just walking out on them like this. You have to see how much is at stake.”
    “I do see how much is at stake. Look at it this way. Imagine how you would feel if you were in their position. Just imagine it for a second. You’re unhappy about the space port, and you see it causing a loss in the value of your assets. Legally, there’s nothing you can do. You don’t have a case. But what if you could intimidate the big cheese into backing down on the things you don’t like? Maybe you find a way to do that if you don’t have a case. If you’re smart, you put him in a losing position—either he backs down and gives you what you want, or he goes to court and ultimately loses anyway through bad press and loss of investors. You frame the entire choice that way—as a choice between losing options. And then you wait him out. Eventually, he’s going to choose to lose on his own terms. Which means choosing exactly how much to give up. Which means choosing not to go to court.”
    He was silent, biting his thumbnail as he mulled it over. “Go on.”
    “So, again, imagine you’re them. What do you do when the big boss chooses to take the unpredictable path of losing whatever the gods of PR and investment hand him, instead of choosing to give up his dream? You’re not prepared for that, because going in, you knew the man too well. You knew, somehow, I don’t know how, that he wouldn’t take an unpredictable risk. So what do you do? If you’re them, you have two choices: go to court and lose, or negotiate. You still want to come out on top in some way, so instead of fighting a losing court battle, you give a little. You bring down your price, but only marginally, only enough to show you’re willing to negotiate. And then you heckle for all you’re worth, and hope the settlement outweighs whatever you were expecting to lose in the first place. In the end, you still come out on top.”
    “And where does that leave me, Victor Sterling?”
    “It leaves you a winner, too. Because instead of giving them what they want and compromising your vision, or getting taken to court and losing credibility, you instead still settle out of court and force them to negotiate, which is what you wanted in the first place. Your mistake, from the beginning, from before they even