A Hop, Skip and a Jump (Family Law Book 4)

by Mackey Chandler

  "Done, easily," Lee agreed.

  "If you can get Fargone to send an escort again, make sure they have a political spox on board." He thought about it a moment. "Even send one along if we have to carry him, as long as he'll help out when needed. I know for a fact the Third Mother doesn't want to go out again. You might ask the Mothers if they would send an emissary with limited powers for Red Tree. Somebody like they would send to a trade town. I like not having to play the politician. I don't think I'd do it very well at all. I lack subtlety."

  "Such a polite word. Gordon is talking to Admiral Hawking about an escort. Perhaps they will send a spox again. I'll see what I can do," Lee promised.

  Lee braced herself for Thor to ask why he wasn't talking with the Fargoers. Maybe he considered that playing politics, because he skipped right over it.

  "Are you sure you need the Sharp Claws?" Thor demanded, saving that issue for last.

  "What would I take? Commercial?" Lee asked. "How would that look? How serious can you take a negotiator who shows up on somebody else's unarmed ship? I had people who didn't like me. Who followed me to the Moon. I'm not sure I could feel safe in the Earth system without an armed ship."

  "I can see that," Thor agreed. "I think you need to look forward. You're going to need this sort of transportation from time to time. Maybe you should get a purpose-built ship instead of tying a destroyer up. It'll be cheaper in the long run. If you don't need it personally it'll be an asset. You can send somebody off in it as your spox. You can even score some points with Talker or others by lending it out. Start it now. Why waste the time until you return?"

  "How fast can they make one now?" Lee asked, surprised.

  "Just months. Hardly a hand touches it until the final fitting," Thor assured her, "not until they put the pads and linens on the bunks, and stock the pantry and kitchen with stuff."

  "I don't want an unarmed courier," Lee insisted.

  "Call it something else then, perhaps a corvette. As fast as a courier but with a couple X-heads on exterior mounts, not interior tubes because you wouldn't be carrying spares to reload anyway."

  "How can I get any decent radar on something that small?" Lee asked. "We were talking about getting Fargone to send a couple destroyers if they won't send a cruiser, but even that didn't thrill us because they don't have enough hull surface to mount a decent radar."

  "Talk to the engineers," Thor suggested. "If you don't have to use the radar under full acceleration they can mount antennas on fold out wings," he said, swinging true hands to each side palms out to illustrate the idea. "You might have to cut back to, I don't know, one G or two Gs to deploy them. But it's better than not having them at all."

  "I'm not sure I have that kind of cash free." Lee said. "We were talking about dabbling in the markets for shares when the banks start trading them."

  Thor definitely looked amused. "Borrow the money. The ship itself is collateral. You have land. You have other, more valuable ships, if they insist on more security. If they aren't insane anybody who knows your business dealings, who knows you have most of the prize earnings of a class A world, would advance you the money as a personal loan against your word. I would if I had it," Thor assured her. "Ask New Japan and Fargone for bids against each other."

  "I'd rather Fargone, because we're citizens there now," Lee said.

  "That's fine. You aren't obligated to take the low bid, but it's too tempting to lard the bill out if they think they're getting the sale dropped in their laps," Thor insisted.

  "I might do that," Lee agreed. "And ask a couple sources for the financing too."

  "Now you're getting into it," Thor said with approval.

  "Nothing else you want, since I won't give up the Sharp Claws?" Lee asked.

  "Not from you. I'll have to see who will sign with me. I have a mental list already. I'm sure I'm not going to get everybody I want, but I'll try."

  * * *

  "You look less stressed," Gordon observed at breakfast in the morning.

  "Yes, I only have one near impossible scary task now," Lee said. "Easy peasy."

  "Wow, you've been reading classic literature again," Gordon said.

  "Not lately. That stuck with me from awhile back. But I'll get back into reading and old video again if things ever settle down so I have actual spare time," Lee vowed.

  "You could read on the run to jump," Gordon suggested. "No need for you to watch a board. You'll have a good pilot and you won't be jumping into strange systems."

  "I will, but I'm going to read history. More recent stuff than what my dad had me reading. Or the summaries from our searches about Central. I was thinking it might be more like five or six years before I might read something just for fun again. There's too much that needs reading right now."

  "Gabriel may be right," Gordon decided. "I can't imagine you planning to do something five or six years in the future before you had life extension therapy."

  "Well, we'll see if it changes your view of things in a few years," Lee said. She didn't take offense at the idea Gabriel might have been right about something. "I can't imagine with enough money thrown at it we won't make it work for Derf too.

  "One hopes," Gordon admitted, seeming more concerned with breakfast.

  "Thor will command an expedition," Lee revealed. That didn't seem to surprise Gordon at all. "Are you going to see if you can talk to Sally Goldstein-Singh?"

  "I got the impression she is at the bank just about every day," Gordon said. "I thought I'd call soon after our breakfast, which is late morning for them, after people have a chance to deal with overnight messages and other distractions, and before they are hungry for lunch, to call. I know she's one of the senior partners, but I need to inquire if they have any order of seniority among themselves. I'll talk to her head first if she has one. It would be better to ask for her than put her in the position of asking to be reassigned to us."

  "Good, I wouldn't have thought of that," Lee admitted. "I liked how outspoken she was. I'd rather have somebody like that promoting our finds than somebody who plays word games and doesn't speak plainly. I feel there is less chance of misunderstandings across different cultures and customs."

  "I don't think that would be a problem with Sally," Gordon agreed.

  Lee looked at her plate funny. "I don't remember having scrambled eggs before. Is this a new thing?"

  "It is. There's a fellow in the town where we stayed before. He's selling fresh eggs and frozen chicken breasts, the rest is made into animal feed. He has a sales route and brings eggs around twice a week. He swears that by next year he'll have freeze dried powdered eggs at a reasonable price too. The Mothers like to buy long-term stable food, especially proteins."

  "The postman doesn't bring them around?" Lee said. "I'm sorry he got cut out."

  "I like the old fellow too, but the Mothers have been buying a thousand eggs a week. I'm afraid they wouldn't fit in his truck, and there are others customers along his route too."

  "A thousand would mean a small portion once a week for everybody," Lee figured out.

  "Yes, but if you can count well enough to figure that out, then you must know we don't see everybody in the clan breakfasting in the Great Hall. Boxed breakfasts get delivered much earlier than you want to get up to a lot of residences and work places. Some people cook for themselves and prefer that to needing to be up and out, active before breakfast. There are even a few shift workers who want breakfast in the evening. They don't all get the fancy stuff. They don't distribute eggs or coffee to home cooks. Rank has its privileges you know."

  For a second Gordon thought she was going to condemn such privilege. He was sure Lee would have objected to such inequality not so long ago, and felt guilty over it.

  "Well, I'll try to be worth it," was all she said now. Gordon was pleased not to need to defend it.

  * * *

  "This is Gordon of Red Tree. I'd like to speak with someone at the director level about our Association and personal accounts and make some
business proposals."

  "Yes sir, you are tagged to be connected directly to the director level," their com specialist informed him, but she stopped when he made restraining gesture.

  "I'm not certain about your internal structure, are the directors equal, or is there seniority among them?" Gordon asked.

  "I'm too low in the organization for such a thing to have ever been explicitly explained to me," the young woman admitted. "I would have connected you to Director Darius before you asked this question. May I suggest he could better answer your question, and connect you to him?"

  "Go ahead," Gordon allowed. If he was stepping on toes to even ask, well there was no help for that now.

  "Good morning Gordon. What can we do for you?" The Derf director answered.

  "Darius, I don't want to offend anybody by bypassing rank. I've never asked if your board has a hierarchy, or you are equals. I want to make a request, but from the top down."

  "I see," Darius said, looking mildly concerned. "It must be an unusual or controversial request for you to be so formal. We are technically equals. There are six directors at the moment. If we voted on something time in service would be ignored, but realistically we rarely take a formal vote. We only do that most of the time to have a record as to our conclusions, because we don't often record the discussion by which we arrive at a decision. We simply discuss things until there is a reasonable consensus, and expertise or time in service is informally weighed in those discussions. Sometimes we excuse ourselves when we feel something is too far outside our experience."

  "Thank you, it is indeed a large proposal I want to make on behalf of the Exploratory Association, and I wanted to be careful how I presented it. You are aware we are in agreement with the bank making loans against the High Hopes Exploratory Association crew shares?" Gordon asked.

  "Yes, that is a large enough undertaking we all discussed it," Darius remembered, "and I recall you suggested it would be acceptable to make a public market in the shares with offerings and prices bid and asked."

  "That's correct, but we are looking to possibly expand that even more. There is enough real wealth in those claims that we hoped the Bank of Derfhome might lend a hand in organizing the actual Commission to manage it. We anticipate a larger volume of bids and sales of claim rights than you or perhaps even all the Derf banks can handle. We intend to send another expedition into the unknown. It would be good, and responsible, to have an orderly way of handling the claims of the Association before another wave of claims hits the market."

  "Yes, we're realistic about how much we can buy, and if there isn't a liquid market in shares that may hurt their value no matter how large the underlying value," Darius worried.

  "By all means, let's avoid that," Gordon agreed. "As a claim holder that's something of personal interest. I also don't want difficulty getting crew, or the quality of crew we wish, because of doubt they can get paid for their efforts in a timely manner. We would use our private accounts to support the value of shares if we had to, but of course we'd rather not see it become necessary.

  "My daughter is going to go back to the Moon, the Earth's Moon that is, to have talks about our clan's relationship with Central and their lunar allies. Some of the issues are more political than commercial, but we hoped the bank would consent to sending a representative along, to have separate talks. The purpose being to recruit Earth banks and Solar banks to deal in claims. I leave it to you to tell me on what terms you could solicit such business. We already deal personally with the Bank of Ceres," Gordon reminded them. "Perhaps that would be a start since they know us and see our cash flow from the Earth Claims Commission. Could they act as Solar agent for the Association too?"

  "This is exactly the scale of business that requires several directors to consult, and all of us to be fully informed eventually," Darius said. "I can call at least two other directors to do a conference call or you can come in and talk to us face to face," Darius offered.

  "My daughter expressed interest in having Sally Goldstein-Singh sent with her. We weren't sure it wouldn't be a conflict to pay her beyond what the bank does, but we recently found that there is a life extension treatment for Humans available at Central and would be very happy to sponsor her for those treatments as a bonus for the extra duty. So if we conference she should be one of the participants," Gordon asked.

  "Is your daughter going to conference with us?" Darius inquired.

  "No, she has other matters keeping her busy, and asked me to arrange this. I also have to run to Fargone to arrange some things, so a conference on com would be better if the others are free," Gordon requested.

  "Let me see if Sally and at least one another director are free to speak with us," Darius said. "If they are we can discuss this right now."

  "That would work. I'll hold," Gordon offered. Darius didn't shut the feed down, he got up and left, leaving Gordon looking at the wood grain panel behind his desk. At least he didn't torment him with insipid music or unwanted video.

  When Darius came back he split the screen between himself, Sally, Goldilocks, who Gordon already knew, and another Derf who was introduced as Picasso. Derf tended to chose a Human name from someone they admired, not necessarily of the same gender, but of similar interests. Gordon didn't recognize that one. He'd look it up later.

  The directors agreed Sally was a good choice. Thankfully Gordon didn't have to say the Derf might face prejudice trying to do business in the Earth system. None of them were stupid. He was sure they realized that. Sally had actual experience with Earth banking systems so that was a plus, although she had no idea what banking was like in the system but off Earth.

  Sally suggested bundling fractional shares to a standard size and selling them as securities. It took a bit of explaining for Gordon to understand the details. Picasso suggested simplifying the bidding process to include fractional rights for something like a space station or orbital com net, to open it up to smaller investors as partners.

  Sally didn't seem near as excited at the idea of life extension as he expected. She had critical questions about its value and safety. When Gordon finally mentioned Lee had taken the treatments Sally asked why he hadn't said that first. It put her doubts to rest. Picasso apologized for going off topic, but wondered if the tech was available for Derf. Gordon admitted he hoped to see it adapted for his own use, but there weren't any promises yet.

  At the last Sally surprised him by saying that if the assignment lasted too long, or if Derfhome contract requirements became too burdensome, she might become an employee of the Exploratory Association, and take a leave of absence from the bank. Gordon looked at her coworkers quickly to see if they were upset by that, but it didn't seem to have any impact.

  "I didn't intend to poach the bank's talent when I asked for Sally," Gordon said.

  "It would be a legalistic distinction," Darius said, waving it away as unimportant with a true hand. "We'd all still be working for a common goal, and it would just make publishing public contracts somewhat less burdensome. Also it would give the competition, such as Earth banks, less information about our dealings. They unfortunately know about Derf contract reporting requirements. The summary of published contracts is one of the first data dumps a ship arriving from Derfhome has no trouble selling at a premium in the Earth system. If you had to pay her salary, in addition to the bonus you are kindly offering, it wouldn't be any significant sum in comparison to the whole endeavor."

  "Tell me if that looks like the way to go, and I'll put you on the payroll. I guess you'd recover her salary from us, and then some, if she's working for the bank. So it doesn't really matter by which channel she gets paid," Gordon told Darius.

  "Right now, give me a verbal OK," Sally requested. "I'll hire an office manager to find a secure building that can house a dozen workers comfortably. We'll get two data guys and a document designer to start. Then we'll talk about what else you need."

  "You have my OK," Gordon said, "and I'm supposed to tell you we'll have Badger an
d Bill advice available on what are reasonable forms and fees from their viewpoint. We're not going to have a vast bureaucracy with thousands of workers!" None of the directors even thought it necessary to reply to that.

  By the time they were done both he and the bank directors had worked through lunch. He considered seeing what they could spare him in the kitchens between meals, but decided it was too close to supper. Gordon got a sweet ration bar from his little luggage emergency kit, and decided that and a nap was all he wanted. He did an inquiry of the web fraction they owned while he ate the bar. It didn't make any sense to him. Picasso seemed to be an artist celebrated for very geometric paintings and drawings which looked to Gordon like what a young cub would do before understanding perspective. Oh, well . . . He closed the bigger machine down and set his pad not to let him sleep past supper. He wondered what Lee was doing since she hadn't interrupted him for hours while he dealt with the bank.

  Chapter 13

  Lee was too busy to be worried about what Gordon was doing. She wrote a very general description of the sort of vessel she wanted built. Saying it would be smaller than a destroyer and most likely larger than a fast courier. As Thor said, best to have people working on that before she left. She encouraged the yards to suggest anything they thought appropriate for the intended use. Perhaps they would offer ideas or designs of which she or Thor would never think. Rather than call it a corvette such as Thor suggested, she described it as a diplomatic vessel. She was encouraged to find on briefly researching it, that there was a history of naval vessels transporting executive or diplomatic staff.

  The mission itself Lee was less certain about. She'd rather meet Heather and deal with her directly rather than through peers. She liked April, but to her that was actually another reason to talk to Heather. She could easily see herself holding back from speaking bluntly with April for fear of alienating her. Lee was curious about Jeff Singh, but only because he was one of The Three, as Heather's subjects styled them. She had an image of him as overly aggressive from the things Gabriel told her, and she'd rather not deal with aggressive people, they roused feelings in her she didn't like.