by Bob Blanton
“He was kicked out of the city,” Director Lassiter said.
Secretary Palmero hid her smile. She had not liked the idea of sending a twenty-year-old man posing as a teenager to seduce a thirteen-year-old girl. That it failed, and according to her sources, failed spectacularly, was good for her soul.
“Why?”
“I believe they broke his cover,” Director Lassiter said. “He just reported that he was kicked out, and that they knew his real name.”
“Sir, Morocco and Mexico just recognized Delphi Nation,” Secretary of State Palmero said after checking the message she’d just received on her phone.
“Damn traitors,” the president yelled. “What next?”
“I have to believe India will recognize them soon,” Secretary Palmero said.
“And you couldn’t stop this?” the president asked as he looked at Director Lassiter.
“We tried, but it looks like they had already made up their minds,” Director Lassiter said as he grimaced at what he knew was coming next.
“What good is the damn CIA, if they can’t even seduce a little girl, or stop a couple of pissant countries from defying us?” the president yelled as he tore the briefing notes in half and threw them on the floor. “What can we do now?”
“Sir,” General Wilson said. “Might I suggest we recognize them and work to get them onto our side before the Russians or Chinese do.”
“I’ll think about it,” the president said. “Now what’s this with North Korea?”
“We just received a report that one of the ballistic submarines had an accident as it was entering the Sinpo shipyard for a refit. The accident also did a lot of damage to the shipyard as the submarine was just entering the drydock at the time,” Director Lassiter said.
“Well, at least that’s some good news,” the president said. “Have we learned anything about that missile launch that went bad?”
“No, sir. The North Koreans are still calling it a successful test,” Director Lassiter said. “They are preparing another launch of the same missile; its launch is scheduled for next week.”
“Damn that Kim,” the president said. “You can’t trust a word he says. I’d like to just drop a nuke on his head.”
Chapter 22
Board Meeting – Oct 28th
“This meeting is called to order,” Marc said.
“Shouldn’t we have some palace guards?” Blake asked.
“We do,” Marc said. “Liz and Kal are here, and Natalia is out in the hall.”
“But where are the fancy uniforms?” Blake asked.
“In your head, where they’re going to stay,” Liz said, getting a thumbs up from Kal.
“On to more serious matters,” Marc said. “First, I’d like to introduce Dr. Nikola Zelbar. She is one of our material scientists, and will be joining the board to help us work through some of the more complex issues related to technology.”
“Hello, everyone,” Nikola said.
“I believe you know everyone here,” Marc said.
“Yes,” Nikola said. “Admiral Michaels and I met when Catie took us up to the space station, and I’ve worked with everyone else in one way or another.”
“Kal, you wanted some time,” Marc said.
“We had two incidents of note this week,” Kal said. “First, we deported an American spy.”
“Who was he?” Marc asked.
Liz reached over and clasped Catie’s hand.
“He was Frankie Phillips; he was posing as the son of Bill and Marjorie Phillips. He was actually Frank Whitaker, a twenty-year-old Marine sergeant. ADI found this out after doing a deeper dig into his background after some suspicious activity on his part.”
“Why did we kick him out instead of leaving him in place like our other friends?” Marc asked.
“He wasn’t as professional,” Kal said. “We felt he was likely to take some kind of rash action. Figured better safe than sorry.”
“What about the real Frankie?” Marc asked.
“Died of a drug overdose. The CIA apparently threatened to have the police go after his cousin if the family didn’t cooperate in their little subterfuge,” Kal continued. “We’ve decided to let them stay.”
“Okay, and your next issue,” Marc prompted. Catie gave an inward sigh as Kal managed to keep her out of the discussion. She really didn’t want any more of her friends on the board to know of her embarrassment.
“We had our first protest against the despot who’s running this place,” Kal said.
“Oh, we did, did we,” Marc said, “and just how did we handle this protest?”
“Constable Nawal handled the issue,” Kal said. “She helped him move his protest off of the sidewalk out front and onto the grass median where he wouldn’t block traffic. He protested for a few more hours, then he went home.”
“Not very despotic of us,” Marc said.
“I told the Delphi Gazette that we needed practice,” Catie said.
“I hope Sophia writes that up as a joke,” Samantha said.
“She did,” Catie said. “It came out this morning, the whole piece is written tongue-in-cheek.”
“Okay, anything else?” Marc asked.
“One other thing of note: Our first class from the police academy came home last week,” Kal said. “Constable Nawal was a member of the class. We’re sending a second class out next week. I’ve decided to keep the four we brought back early last time here for now. We’ll send them back with the third class.”
“Sound thinking,” Marc said. “That it?” Getting a nod from Kal, Marc turned to Samantha. “Sam?”
“Mexico and Morocco have recognized us,” Samantha said. “And we’ve been assured that India will recognize us this week.”
“That is excellent news,” Marc said as he put his hand out to forestall Blake’s rushing to the liquor cabinet to start a toast. “After the meeting. Anything else, Sam?”
“Yes, I have over four thousand applications for immigration to Delphi City,” Samantha said.
“Four thousand,” Marc said with surprise. “Where are they coming from?”
“Most of them are from writers, artists, and quite a few singers and musicians,” Samantha said.
“Why, taxes?” Marc asked.
“I think so,” Samantha said. “Writers and artists make their money through royalties, and performers like singers and musicians are on the road all the time. I think they’re looking for a safe, comfortable place to live as well as liking our tax rate.”
“People, what do you think?” Marc asked.
“I think we should only accept those kinds of immigrants after they have spent a few months in the city,” Liz said. “They need to realize that this isn’t like a normal city; it’s quieter, there are no cars, and their bodyguards won’t be able to carry any weapons.”
“I like that idea,” Samantha said. “Have them get used to our laws before they really move here and get surprised at what they cannot do or have here.”
“Anyone else?”
“Can I tell Sophia about the applications?” Catie asked.
Marc looked at Samantha. “Why not,” she said. “We might get some feedback from our other residents.”
“Okay, anything else?” Marc asked.
“No, but I’d like to hear from the admiral about how our North Korea project is going,” Samantha said.
“Admiral,” Marc prompted.
“Your guys managed to get a mine placed on their two ballistic submarines,” Admiral Michaels said. “The mine on the first sub exploded as it was entering the drydock at Sinpo shipyards. Made quite a mess which should slow them down some. I take it we can detonate the mine on the second sub anytime we want?”
“That is correct,” Marc said.
“Then I would recommend we do so when it is coming in for a refit,” the admiral said. “Based on their past history, that should be in about six weeks. I’ve also heard they’re preparing the launch of another missile for this weekend. A good
test to see if you can shut it down in the early stage of the launch.”
“We’re as prepared as we can be on that,” Marc said. “We’ll convene a small war council when the launch is about to happen so we can discuss options.”
“That would be good,” the admiral said. “My guess is that they know something happened to their last launch, and they’re anxious to see what it was. If this one goes bad early in the launch, it’ll set them back on their heels.”
Nikola had been leaning forward in her chair following the conversation closely; she signaled Marc that she had a question.
“Nikola,” Marc said.
“Just how are you able to disrupt their missile launches?” she asked.
“If you can get him to tell you that,” Admiral Michaels said, “then you’ll be doing better than me.”
“I’m sorry, Nikola,” Marc said. “There are still a few things that we feel the need to limit knowledge of. That is one of them.”
“Okay,” Nikola said, thinking she would discuss this with her husband and see what they could guess.
“And, Nikola,” Marc said.
“Yes?”
“If you and Leo manage to develop a theory, please don’t share it with anyone but me,” Marc said.
“Or Catie?”
“Or Catie,” Marc agreed.
“Since you have the floor, anything you would like to share?” Marc asked.
“The experiments we have running at the space station have been going well. Leo has finalized his process for the superconductor. He is close on the flexible polysteel, but feels he won’t be able to dial that in until he can be up there for a few days at a time,” Nikola said. “We have a process for the transparent polysteel that can produce it in any thickness from 0.2 millimeters to ten centimeters.”
“That is great news,” Marc said. “We need the thin transparent polysteel for our comm units and the phones that Vancouver Integrated will be producing. And I’m sure we can come up with good uses for the thicker stuff. It’ll make great armor glass.”
“I would like to start using it in all our windows,” Kal said. “And I have a list of windows I would like to have replaced with it.”
“Fred, can you set up a window manufacturing shop?” Marc asked.
“On it,” Fred said.
“Anything else?” Marc asked.
“Yes, Leo and I were talking about the superconductor, and the fact that you already have some that you use on your Oryxes to absorb the reentry heat and convert it to electricity,” Nikola said. “As a result, we set up an experiment using it and the transparent polysteel. It created a very efficient solar panel.”
“How efficient?” Marc asked with excitement.
“Ninety percent,” Nikola said. “That’s over three times better than current solar panels.”
“Darn it!” Catie exclaimed. “Oops, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”
“Did I say something wrong?” Nikola asked.
“No,” Samantha said. “Catie is just used to being the one to see the obvious applications. She thinks she should have seen that one.”
“I did,” Catie said. “I was going to set up a test this week.”
“Ha! You have some competition now,” Blake said. “It’ll be good for you.”
Marc laughed at his daughter’s little pique of frustration, “Too busy?”
“Yes,” she said. “Nikola, did you characterize the manufacturing process yet?”
“Not yet,” Nikola said. “We need more time here in the lab.”
“Okay,” Marc said. “We’ll get you set up. Fred, can you take care of this as well?”
“Sure, I’ll see to it. Set up solar panel lab,” Fred noted. “We should decide on the type of operation you want. How big, manufacturing split between here and Delphi City, is it just enough for our needs, or do you want to export them?”
Marc noticed Catie squirming in her seat. “Catie, what’s up? You don’t look happy,” he said.
“I have some ideas I want to try out for the solar panels,” Catie said.
“I thought you were busy,” Marc said.
“But I want to work with Nikola on it,” Catie whined.
“No skin off my back,” Fred said. “Just tell me what you want to do, and I’ll work around it.”
“I’m okay with that,” Marc said. “Let’s plan on exporting them, once we have the process figured out,” Marc said. “Is Marcie ready to get back on the road?” Marcie was MacKenzie Discoveries’ sales rep. She had been brought to Delphi City for protection when the US was saber-rattling.
“Admiral, what do you think?” Samantha asked.
“I think we’re safe for now,” the admiral said. “The US is going to want to be careful with us after the fusion announcement, and Marcie never was a significant point of leverage.”
“Okay, then I’ll talk to her,” Samantha said. “Does she get to use a Lynx?”
“Why not,” Marc said. “Just tell her that she’ll likely have other passengers when she travels.”
“I think she’ll be okay with that, might be some celebrities, even,” Samantha said.
“Okay, let’s get the process down and cost figured out before we go too far,” Marc said.
“We should decide how much manufacturing we want here on the city, vs. in Rarotonga,” Kal said. “We might even want to consider shipping the raw panels somewhere else to manufacture them.”
“It would be a good job creator for some of your target countries,” Liz said.
“Could we risk one of the poorer African nations?” Marc asked.
“Ethiopia is moving toward a more open political system,” Admiral Michaels said. “It would be a nice way to help them.”
“Okay, do we have anyone who can look into it for us?” Marc asked.
“We can ask General Clark to start looking at it,” Samantha suggested. “He’s been doing a great job working on getting us recognized.”
“Okay, talk to him,” Marc said. “Catie, so you’re too busy, and now you’re on the clock with the panels. What can we do about your workload?”
“I’ve handed off the hydroponic gardening to Mrs. Michaels and the meat growing operation to Vince Clark, no relationship to the general and Jason,” Catie said. “So that helps a lot.”
“What else could you give up?” Marc asked.
“I don’t want to give anything else up yet,” Catie said.
“If you’re too busy,” Marc said.
“It’s not that,” Catie interrupted. “I just started the job with Vancouver Integrated, and it’s taking more of my time than I thought.”
“So . . .” Marc prompted.
“It’ll get easier once I learn more of the programming,” Catie said. “It’s just taking longer than I had expected it to. I’m working with Chris, and we’re helping each other learn it, and ADI is helping too. I’ll catch up.”
Marc laughed at his daughter.
“What’s so funny?” Catie asked.
“You’re finally hitting the limit of how fast you can learn things,” Marc said. “Before it was always a matter of how fast you could absorb the material, you’ve never had to practice anything that didn’t require physical coordination. Now you know how the rest of us feel.”
“I’ve had to study the math stuff,” Catie said.
“Kind of,” Marc replied. “That has been more about having to go back through the derivation when you ran into something new. And you haven’t bothered with the really complex stuff because you really weren’t interested in it.”
“I don’t want to be a mathematician,” Catie said.
“That’s my point. This is the first time you’ve had to confront your own limitations and study,” Marc said.
“Well, I’m doing it,” Catie said in a huff.
“Glad to see it,” Marc said. “Now, what do you have to report?”
“Well, you can guess from what’s been said, that the Vancouver Integrated team ha
s started moving in. They’ve got a fabrication lab set up here now, and their offices. They’ve moved one hundred people here. I’ve given the okay for a regular Lynx shuttle run between here and Vancouver; it’ll run three days a week,” Catie said.
“That’s great,” Marc said. “When are they going to start experiments up in space?”
“Now that our material issues for the space station are mostly solved, I’ve asked Fred to allocate one of the Oryxes as a mobile lab,” Catie said. “That way, they can set up a test here on the ground and send it up. They’ll start that in a couple of weeks. Once they have a better handle on the basics, they’ll move into the permanent lab space Liz has allocated for them.”
“Good,” Marc said.
“We also have eight fabricators moved to the space station, that’s all but two,” Catie said. “That means we can start making special parts as needed. And coordinating that is something I’d be happy to hand off.”
Marc sighed; it was getting more and more difficult for them to handle all the various tasks within their small inner circle. And he was loath to expand the number of people who knew about the Sakira. “Can we have ADI set up an automatic process?” Marc asked.
“We can, but I think we still need someone to set priorities,” Catie said as she looked at Nikola.
“Why don’t you and Nikola talk about whether she can pick that up,” Marc said. He wondered if that would work without explaining that the fabricators were a molecular-level 3-D printer that could literally make anything that they had the design for.
“I’d be happy to take that on,” Nikola said.
“I’ll go over it with her,” Catie said.
“Thank you,” Marc said. “Liz.”
“We have completed ring one,” Liz said. “We’re stopping the station’s rotation today so we can attach it. That should only take two days. Then it will take about two to three weeks to build it out enough that it will be ready for habitation. Then we can start adding units for people to live in.”
“That is excellent news,” Marc said. “It will be nice to start having other people up there besides the construction crew. We need to get a sense of what it takes to make it a livable place so we can adjust our plans.”
“I agree. We have a lot to learn,” Liz said. “We started extruding ring two last week, it will take another two weeks to complete. We have to decide if we’re going to wait until ring three is complete before we attach them.”
