Octavia settled into the driver's seat for flight and their delayed conversation. She flew the little Dragonfly with practiced ease. The Dragonfly did not belong to her either, but she did not see any need to make that fact known. It was only going as far as the hangar after all, where she would be hiding it behind the draped tarps and hoping no one would notice it on first inspection. Let Hubert worry a little.

Besides, it was good for discrediting her brother. "Two airships stollen!" Quickly amended with the correction "No, only one ship. It is not as bad as Hubert Dorrsett made it sound at first."

The Dragonfly would also point to her own initiative, there was no sense in making it seem like she had been kidnapped. If anyone had been kidnapped, it might be more accurate to say she had spirited away Mr. Fischer. Hubert would see her fingerprints all over the whole scheme and thanks to Me Fischer's departure from the party would be oblivious to his involvement.

He was asking about starting companies again and this time it was not him, or her, but [i]we[/i]. For his help now, she would gladly help him in return with [i]his[/i] endeavors.

Father had been a shrewd businesses man. Huber was a disaster. Mr Fischer's success could not be foretold. But Farther believed people had a right to fail, as well as the right to seek good advice and avoid it.

"You said you had a few promising designs. Are you interested in seeing them built as experimental or in starting a company to mass-produce them?" Octavia rattled on quickly, not allowing time for him to reply until she had asked all of her questions.

"Would you like your own company? I mean, would you like to oversee all of its operations and the business side of things? Or would you prefer to be working primarily on the ships themselves in some company that would support you?

"You see, Father left me departments in several organizations. I'm testing the amount of influence I have there. I may be able to get you into an established company, or I'd gladly help you start your own if that is what you prefer. I expect you'll be back in the hangars working to your heart's content long before I'm done cleaning up after Hubert."

Now that they were away from the house they had a few minutes to talk. She took a wide arc to the Orion's hangar to avoid being noticed flying above the security stop at the gate on the road. Even Hubert couldn't dismiss the security staff for every hour of the night. Yellow light shone through the little windows of the booth in the distance and a long rectangle fell on the street through the open door. The security guard sat outside in the pleasant darkness, leaning back in his chair with the worn soles of his boots propped up on the gatepost. His cap rested on his knees and the breeze ruffled his hair. Work was dull but at least the night was fine.