The Stones of Silence_Cochrane's Company_Book One

by Peter Grant

  “About ten years ago – at least, that’s when this started – some members of the family apparently decided to steal from asteroid mining operations. We’re still trying to identify those involved. We’ve contacted the Bregija family elders, but they deny all responsibility. They say the group stealing asteroids is a rogue arm of the family, not under their control. However, they won’t name them. We’ve pointed out that if the whole family isn’t running this operation, and we act against those that are, the others will have no legitimate reason to interfere. They aren’t happy about that, because even with dissident members, blood is thicker than water as far as they’re concerned. So far, they haven’t gone further than to voice their concerns.”

  Cochrane frowned. “If they’re Albanian, where are the robots coming from? The Albanian language doesn’t use Cyrillic script.”

  “The Bregijas have a long-standing alliance with a crime family from Serbia on Earth. The Vukovics also emigrated to the stars during the Scramble for Space. They have fingers in a lot of industrial and commercial pies on many worlds. One is an asteroid mining supply operation. It contracts with factories to build prospector robots to its specifications, including space inside for them to install additional components. When they do, they include the self-destruct mechanism and software. The Bregijas buy the robots from the Vukovics, then program their own algorithms, which we think impose a rigid set of first-pass conditions. If an asteroid doesn’t meet them, it’s discarded, no matter how promising it might otherwise be. They look for high concentrations of precious metals above all else, because they’re easiest to dispose of.”

  Hsu added, “Regrettably, we haven’t found any of their prospector bots in our own asteroid belts – only in associated systems, where we have an interest, but not control. We’ve asked all those enterprises to contact us the next time they find any, rather than try to disarm them themselves, but so far that hasn’t happened. They’ve been too impatient, and the bots have destroyed themselves before they could be shut down and examined.”

  Cochrane smiled, picked up his wine glass, and sipped its delicious contents. “Then it’s a good thing I asked, because we found out how to disarm them. We’ve captured three, intact.”

  Hsu and Huang stared at him, then at each other, while Captain Lu cocked her head slightly to one side, looking at him with careful consideration. He thought, amused, that her gaze was as if he were a child who’d just done something surpassingly clever for his age.

  Huang took a deep breath. “Captain, may I buy one or two of those prospector robots from you? Name your own price.”

  “You can’t buy one, but I have one aboard my ship. I’ll give it to you, subject to one condition.”

  “Name it.”

  “That you share your findings with me, in full, without holding anything back. I have one of my own electronics specialists, plus a team of assistants, examining the others right now. I’ll share their findings with you in the same way. That way, we’ll both know more about what we’re up against.”

  “I… I don’t know whether the Tong will allow that, Captain. I would have to ask permission. It’ll take several weeks for a message to reach my superiors, and their reply to reach me.”

  Captain Lu said, “I can’t speak for Mr. Huang’s operation, Captain, but I can agree to that on behalf of Fleet Intelligence. We’ve also been looking for more information about these people, because dealing with them may become our responsibility. From a military perspective, you’re making an offer we can’t refuse, particularly if your own analysis is included. How good is your specialist?”

  “He just built half a dozen gravitic drive frequency modulators from scratch, to his own design, and making his own parts down to chip and circuit level.”

  Her eyebrows shot up. “He did? Then he’s probably among the best in the galaxy. Those modulators are fiendishly complex. If he’s looking at the robots from your side, he might learn even more than our own people, and they’re pretty good too. All right, I’ll accept your terms.”

  Cochrane extended his hand across the table. “It’s a deal. You can collect the prospector robot from my ship tomorrow.”

  She returned his handshake. He was suddenly very aware that she was not only a Fleet officer of equal rank to his own, but also an attractive woman. Sternly he suppressed that reaction as he released her hand. This was neither the time nor the place for it.

  Captain Lu accompanied him up to orbit the following morning. “We may as well take the opportunity to start our discussions while my people collect that prospector robot,” she pointed out. He agreed with alacrity, and met her at the asteroid company’s compound on Barjah. A senior officer’s gig was waiting, comfortably upholstered. “I’ll have a crew from my communications frigate meet us at your ship,” she explained. “They can take back the robot in their cutter.”

  “That’ll work. I’ll radio ahead to have the freighter give them access to the docking bay.”

  “You’re in a freighter?” She sounded surprised. “That’s a very slow ship, given everything you need to accomplish.”

  “You’re right. Most times I travel aboard a leased courier ship. Unfortunately, I don’t have the resources of a fleet at my disposal. I had to bring asteroids this trip, and a courier vessel doesn’t have enough freight capacity for them. I shouldn’t even have brought them myself, because there are a dozen other things crying out for my attention, but my subordinates all have that problem, too. I was the only person who could be spared.”

  She nodded understandingly. “You’re a relatively new operation, so I suppose you’re having trouble finding the right sort of officers.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Even fleets have that problem. I wish you luck in finding them.”

  He sighed. “They’re there. We have an outstanding pool of spacers available in the New Orkney Cluster and a couple of nearby groups of stars, all distant descendants of the Vikings and fishermen from those parts on Earth. However, as you say, we’re a new operation. Most of the good people will wait to see how we shake down before they’re willing to take us seriously.”

  “I suppose part of that is getting more combat-capable ships?”

  “Very much so – hence my interest in finding a supplier who can provide what I need. I’ve got my hands on several old patrol craft. The first two have been refurbished and are operational, and more will follow soon, but they’re barely adequate. I need more and larger warships in the short to medium term if I’m to secure the Mycenae system, and be able to make a serious pitch to other prospective customers about what we can offer.” He smiled. “I hadn’t planned on such rapid growth at all, but the money to pay for it fell into our laps, and in terms of our Mycenae agreement, we can use it; so, I’m striking while the iron is hot. I’ll find crews for the ships while they’re building. If I can get what I want, I’ll have spacers lining up to serve on them. They’ll likely be more powerful than anything in the New Orkney Cluster.”

  She looked surprised. “You’re not talking about major warships, surely? Private companies aren’t allowed to operate them, according to United Planets regulations.”

  “That’s not quite the letter of the law, but let’s table it for now. I know I can’t buy destroyers, but I want capabilities as close to theirs as I can manage in a smaller vessel. I’ve been mulling it over for three months.”

  She nodded, glancing out of the window as the planet fell away beneath them and the pilot switched from reaction thrusters to gravitic drive. The gig’s velocity jumped as the more powerful drive boosted them toward the powered orbital bands, where Cochrane’s ship waited.

  “You asked for the names of suppliers that met a list of criteria,” she said. “There’s one company in particular I can recommend to you. We have a division of four older light cruisers, built about sixty years ago. I served as Executive Officer aboard one of them before being promoted to my present rank. Their hulls were in good shape, but their systems and missiles were out
dated. Kang Industries at Goheung offered to design new missile pods for them, holding almost thirty percent more weapons than the originals, and upgrade their electronics as well. The total expense was less than a third of what new cruisers would cost. The division was so improved that it was reinstated as the core of our home system defenses.”

  Cochrane nodded, intrigued. “If they could redesign a missile pod to be that much more powerful, they’re certainly innovative. I’d like to know more about it.”

  “My ship’s database has more information about them. Kang did very impressive work, so much so that we’ve gone back to them for a squadron of their corvettes for system patrol.”

  “Some corvettes would be very useful right now in the Mycenae system, although we need bigger ships too. You said you were Exec aboard one of those cruisers. What’s your current job?”

  She glanced sideways at him. “My primary function is head of the weapons and warships desk in Fleet Intelligence. That’s one reason I was asked to talk to you about your needs, as well as being the same rank as yourself. We’d like to know more about your company and your plans, because we hire outside security for some of our commercial operations in other systems from time to time. I’ve also been tasked to investigate the Albanian intrusion into asteroid mining. It’s becoming more and more of a problem, so your information about those robotic prospectors couldn’t have come at a better time.”

  Cochrane was struck with a sudden inspiration. “Why don’t you come with me for a few weeks? We can visit Kang Industries and see what they have to offer, then you can discuss the robot prospectors with my specialist at Constanta. After that, if you like, you can come to the Mycenae system with me and see them at work for yourself. You might be able to learn a lot more, a lot faster, if you’re on the spot, than if you were back at Qianjin.”

  She smiled. “You named my planet at last! I’m glad we’ve got past circumlocutions. That’s a very good idea. I can send a message to my superiors through Mr. Huang, reporting what I’m doing. Under the circumstances, I’m sure they’ll approve, even though I won’t wait for permission. If you’d care to be my guest aboard my communications frigate, we can travel much faster than your freighter. We can visit Goheung for a few days, and still reach Constanta at about the same time as your ship.”

  “Thank you very much. Her crew can take her back without me. It’ll also be helpful to have you introduce me to Kang Industries. That’ll be better than approaching them as a stranger. May I bring the payment I’m about to receive? That’ll help if I decide to leave a deposit with Kang.”

  She smiled. “Of course, although my crew may start wearing eyepatches and pirate hats, to celebrate all the gold we’ll be carrying!” She hesitated. “There’s something you should know, in all fairness. Kang pays a commission to us for any ships ordered by buyers we introduce to them. It’s a standard arrangement. I wouldn’t want you to think we’re trying to take advantage of you.”

  Cochrane shrugged. “Introduction fees, commissions, incentives, bribes, call it what you will; most of the galaxy functions along those lines. I suppose it’s like oil in the gears of a machine. It keeps things functioning smoothly for everybody. I can’t say I like it, but there’s no use farting against thunder.”

  She stared, then laughed aloud. “I’ve never heard that saying before. It’s so expressive! I may have to use it during a Fleet Intelligence meeting, to see my superiors’ faces when they hear it.”

  “Just choose the superiors carefully. It’s been my experience that some of them have no sense of humor at all.”

  The size of the payment surprised even Cochrane, even though he’d been aware it would be a big one. The asteroids he’d brought proved to be even richer than their initial assay had estimated, due to a few that had hidden internal veins of almost pure precious metals.

  As the last crate of gold bars was stowed in the communications frigate’s hold, Captain Lu signed to accept custody of them from the mining consortium on behalf of the Qianjin Fleet, for delivery to Eufala Corporation. She gazed at the tablet for a moment before scrawling her signature on the screen with an electronic stylus. “I’ve accepted delivery of a destroyer for the Fleet before,” she mused, “but even that wasn’t as valuable as this shipment. How many gold bars are there? We’d better not have any accidents on the way to Constanta, or we’ll be one of the richest shipwrecks in spacefaring history!”

  “There’s a lot of them. I’ve had to accept mostly full-size bars, because that many one-kilogram mini-bars would have been unmanageable. At least, if anything happens to us, we’ll have every space salvage outfit in the galaxy looking for us.”

  “There is that, I suppose.” She grinned impishly at him, then looked curious. “Just how much do you expect to make out of all the asteroids you’ve recovered?”

  He shrugged. “If our initial assays are correct – and so far, they seem to be – we’re looking at a total value of just over seventy billion francs. We’ll get half of that; call it thirty-five to thirty-six billion.”

  She gasped audibly as she stared at him. After a moment she said, her voice shaky, “No wonder Qianjin saw fit to send the head of a Fleet Intelligence department to brief you! Money like that represents real power. There are planets with annual budgets less than that! What on earth are you going to do with it all?”

  “Use it to break free,” he said frankly. “The First Families in the New Orkney Cluster make sure that everybody else is locked into second-class status, no matter how good they are in their field. They ride roughshod over us whenever it suits them. That happened to me, and it destroyed my marriage and my career. Never again! I’m building this security company to give a way out to as many good spacers as possible, a chance to build a better future somewhere else.”

  “But where? Are you saying you won’t be based in the Cluster?”

  “No. I’m not sure where we’ll end up, but I’ll find a place where anyone can grow as high as their abilities let them, without being kept down by a privileged few.”

  “I see. You’re something of an idealist, then?”

  “No; a realist. When you’ve been screwed over, and found out the hard way how painful it is, you don’t have many illusions left. I’d like to get away from those who did that to me, and make them pay for it into the bargain. Mycenae came along at just the right time, and NOE’s greed to save money – which would go into their own pockets, of course – played right into my hands.”

  “I don’t think I want you as an enemy,” she said slowly. “You know how to nurse a grudge.”

  “Aye. That, and worse, has been said of Orkney men down the centuries.”

  As he watched the communications frigate’s commanding officer, a young Lieutenant-Commander, get the ship under way, Cochrane thought to himself that he’d better be very careful what he said to Kang Industries. The company had just handed over two one-million-ton fast freighters to what they thought were authorized passage crews, for delivery to the Callanish consortium. Those freighters were now being altered beyond easy recognition in a Medusa shipyard, along with the repair ship Colomb, while two used half-million-ton fast freighters, plus an equally large repair ship, should have already left Medusa for Constanta. By the time he got back, Sue McBride would be hard at work setting up her new repair ship. If she had her way, it’d soon be one of the best equipped of its kind in the galaxy.

  That’s good, he thought, because we’re likely to need it. We don’t have a shipyard at Mycenae, so we’ll need her to repair breakdowns or damage on the scene. I can’t give Sue too long to fine-tune her. Meanwhile, I’d better make sure Kang Industries never gets a whiff of our involvement in the loss of those two freighters. Fortunately, none of our people were there, and the ships never went near the New Orkney Cluster. There’s nothing to tie us to them.

  He watched with interest as the Lieutenant-Commander set course for the system boundary. Goheung lay five days’ fast travel ahead. He and Captain Lu – or Hui, as he wa
s already beginning to think of her – would use the time in intensive discussions about warships. So far, she’d given no outward sign that she saw him as anything but another officer and professional spacer… but perhaps they’d find time for more personal discussions, too. He hoped so.

  11

  Innovation

  GOHEUNG

  Captain Lu’s presence, and the substantial orders Qianjin had placed with Kang Industries in the past, ensured that Cochrane received high-level attention when he arrived without notice, and asked to speak to someone senior about a prospective order for warships. His assurance – and her confirmation – that he had funds, and could supply a valid end user certificate, brought swift results. The two Captains were invited to be Kang’s guests at an upmarket hotel in Goheung’s capital city, and meet with the company’s Vice-President for Sales the following morning.

  Kim Do-Yun proved to be a rotund, affable-seeming man, with the sharpest, most penetrating eyes Cochrane had ever seen. He reminded himself sternly that nobody got to be a Vice-President of a major interstellar corporation without a great deal of ability and intelligence. It would not do to underestimate this man.

  Cochrane explained the security needs of the Mycenae system, but was careful to point out that his long-term interests were far larger than that. “Patrol craft and corvettes are all very well for simple system patrol, but they’re light forces. If we want to be a real presence in the space security market, we’ve got to offer ships of much greater power. They’ve got to not only defend an installation or system with whom we’re under contract, but also be proactive in dealing with a potential threat – in military terms, take the fight to the enemy.”