Priapus Simoneit leaned back in his chair, looking even older than he normally did. His hands trembled as he laid a formal paper envelope on his desk, looking at Kira and Zoric as they sat across from him.
“John’s will was updated roughly three months ago,” he told them in a weary voice. “I went through it all with him.”
Simoneit had been an old friend of Kira’s boss—and Estanza’s fellow ex-Cobra—Jay Moranis, who’d traveled with the pilot but settled much farther out. He hadn’t been John Estanza’s lawyer when Kira had arrived, but he’d handled all of Jay Moranis’s affairs—and then Kira’s, including the establishment of Memorial Squadron, her mercenary company.
“I thought John had another lawyer,” Zoric asked.
“Em Legault actually retired a few months ago,” Simoneit told her. “At Em Estanza’s instructions, we’d been transferring the entire Conviction LLC file over to Simoneit and Partners Law from Legault LLP over that time.
“The will was done separately, though the main asset involved is Conviction LLC itself.”
The lawyer shrugged.
“John Estanza reinvested most of his wealth and profits back into the company and the ship,” he told them. “One of the reasons for needing to rewrite the will was that it was previously structured so that Daniel Mbeki inherited most of the corporation.
“Given that Em Mbeki’s death returned his twenty percent share in Conviction LLC to John Estanza, many adjustments were required. His final request was that both of you be present for this,” Simoneit concluded.
“This is hard, Pree,” Kira admitted. “I think we all kind of thought he was immortal.”
“Believe me, old men know how immortal they’re not,” Simoneit said drily. “Are you aware of the ownership structure of Conviction LLC, Kira?”
“I assumed Estanza owned it, actually,” Kira admitted.
“Not all,” the lawyer said. “Em Zoric here”—he gestured to Zoric—“owns a twenty percent share. She and Daniel Mbeki were awarded those shares two years ago as part of Em Estanza’s succession planning, according to Em Legault.”
“That’s correct, yes,” Zoric said quietly.
“At his death, John Estanza owned eighty percent of Conviction LLC and approximately forty million kroner in assorted liquid financial assets,” Simoneit told them. “His desire was quite straightforward, actually.
“Everything he owned is split evenly between the two of you except for the shares in Conviction, which are split seventy-five-twenty-five in Em Demirci’s favor.”
Kira blinked and did the mental math. Twenty million Redward kroner was about five million Apollon new drachmae. Estanza had been wealthier than he’d pretended. The major item, though, was the shares of the mercenary company.
That would give her a sixty percent share in Conviction to Zoric’s forty percent…but Conviction didn’t really own anything.
“I see his logic,” Kira said. “But I’m guessing he assumed Conviction would survive him.”
“Most likely. If I may make a suggestion?”
Kira made a go-ahead gesture.
“With the ownerships and contract questions around Raccoon and the personnel of Conviction LLC—not to mention the cash assets of both the Memorial Squadron and Conviction corporations—a merger of the two entities into a new organization may be the wisest course.
“I’d need to do the math, but I believe that you, Em Demirci, would retain control of the combined entity, with Em Zoric as the second-largest shareholder, nearly matched by Em Patel now that he has inherited Em Hoffman’s shares in Memorial Squadron.”
Kira exhaled.
“That would make things easier, wouldn’t it, Kavitha?” she asked the other woman. “I’ll need to run by it by the Memorials, but you and I can sign off for Conviction right now.”
“It makes sense, but what do we even call it?”
“Not ‘Raccoon,’” Kira argued. “I’ll keep that carrier as long as we have to and not one bloody minute more.”
The junk carrier was exactly what she’d expected it to be.
“Memorial still, I think,” Zoric said slowly. “We’re not just remembering your dead from Apollo anymore, though. For Estanza and Labelle and Hoffman and everyone else.”
“Agreed.”
“Very well,” Simoneit told them. “I can get the paperwork while you get sign-off from the other shareholders of Memorial Squadron.” He paused. “That is, of course, assuming that you wish to continue operating a mercenary company, ladies.
“Thanks to Jay Moranis and John Estanza, you are both quite wealthy now. And I think we all just received a clear reminder of the mortality rate of your business.”
“I don’t have it in me to sit on a beach and sip margaritas, Pree,” Kira told the lawyer. “And the Equilibrium Institute is still out there. We might have finally stopped them here, but we still have work to do.”
“I’m with Kira,” Zoric agreed. “If nothing else, I’ve spent so long on ships, I don’t think I even could live on a planet. I know what I do and I know I do it well.”
“Very well. I look forward to assisting you in your future endeavors, then, officers.
“Good luck.”