The next was more practical. A large asteroid, about a tenth the size of Colony 40's P-Zero, had been towed away from my claim, flattened on one side and hollowed out on the other for living spaces.
The final plan showed the same large asteroid, but this time it had been cut in half and the ore handling and refining stations doubled in size. It was an ambitious production design that would take at least three years to complete.
"Which one do you like?" Nick asked as he approached from behind.
"What are you doing up?" I asked.
"Couldn't sleep. I didn't want to wake Marny, so I thought I'd get some work done," he said.
"The first one, but I don't think it's very practical. It would take us forever to refine that much material," I said, answering his initial question.
"I agree. We couldn't start with that," he said. "How about between the other two?"
"I'm not sure about splitting that size of an asteroid, so I guess I like the plan where we flatten one side and live on the other. Getting the co-op up fast is a great idea since the Descartes belt is between two habitable planets. It's not like Colony 40 which was so far from Mars. That particular plan would also keep us true to the mission, specifically not tying us down as full-time miners."
"That was what Big Pete thought too. How do you feel about donating that asteroid? It's the biggest one in your entire claim and according to your dad, it's loaded with iron." he said.
Show remaining asteroids in my claim larger than a million cubic meters with a high iron survey.
The holographic projector showed fifteen asteroids ranging from a million to four million cubic meters. It was more material than I could mine in five life times.
"That works for me. I have no desire to be a miner. I just want to be an old guy who leases out his claim for a bunch of money," I said.
Nick laughed. "Well, you'd get an owner's share of the minerals from the split and then it'd become the property of Loose Nuts once Belirand turns the leases into ownership."
"Works for me," I said.
***
My alarm woke me at 1300 so we wouldn't miss the captain's meeting with Belirand. I slid out from under Tabby's arm and forced myself to look away from her naked form on top of the covers. Her synth skin easily adjusted to the minor variations in temperature aboard ship and for some reason she'd decided that au naturale was her default.
"You've got twenty minutes," I whispered and jumped in the shower.
I pulled on a fresh suit liner and my vac-suit. Tabby was still passed out on the bed and would require more work.
"Hey, I need to leave in ten. You don't have to come if you don't want to," I said.
She rolled over pulling the sheet with her and covering up. "What is it again?" she asked with half open eyes.
"Captain's meeting. Not sure exactly what they're going to cover," I said.
"Alright, frak," she said and rolled off the bed, scooping her suit liner off the floor. I winced, the liners did a nice job of staying clean, but I had a hard time putting a liner on after I'd taken it off. She made a quick trip into the bathroom.
"Mom? Ada? Are you ready to head over to the Captain's meeting?" I asked over the comm.
"We're with Lena on Sterra's Gift," Mom replied almost immediately.
"Meet on the concourse in five?" I asked.
"We'll be there," she replied.
"Meet who?" Tabby asked as she exited the head. She'd braided her thick, copper colored hair and neatly laid it over her shoulder.
"Mom and Ada." I picked up my heavy flechette and loaded it into the shoulder holster I generally reserved for when I was wearing a coat.
"You think it's a good idea to be packing?" Tabby asked.
"Something feels off. I can't put my finger on it," I said.
"Want me to bring a piece?"
"Up to you. I'm mostly just sending a message to Oberrhein."
"I'm in and don't worry. I won't shoot first," Tabby said.
I laughed nervously. I knew she meant it and I hoped she'd live by it.
We met Ada and Mom on the concourse in front of the gate that led to Sterra's Gift.
"Anyone know where we're going?" I asked, joking. I knew it drove Mom nuts when I wasn't organized. She looked at a vid screen embedded in the wall, which had an arrow pointing to the left with the caption, 'Captain's Invitational.' So much for getting lost.
The room was considerably smaller than the banquet hall and had soft chairs lined up facing a speaker's podium. There was a table with cookies and coffee, which sounded like a good idea to me. As usual, we were just in time. Seating was limited, so we had to sit at the front.
A severe looking blonde woman, who was about my mom's age, walked to the front. She wore a blue dress with a Belirand logo over her left breast.
"Greetings intrepid adventurers. I'm Amanda Hoope, station administrator for Bethe Peierls Terminal and I'd like to extend a warm welcome to the Tipperary expedition members. I hope you've found our facilities to be a nice respite from the start of your long journey. For those of you who've traversed the TransLoc gates in the past, much of what I'm about to cover will be repetitive. That said, safe TransLocation is our highest priority."
I'd like to say that I listened to every last detail that she covered for the next half hour, but once she got going I found that she sounded like every other lecturer I'd ever heard. At one point, Tabby jabbed me in the ribs, as I must have started to doze. Thank Jupiter that Tabby had always been an excellent student and had the ability to survive a droning speaker.
"Finally, for those ships without TransLoc engines, we'll temporarily attach a harness to allow the ship to enter fold-space. As that fits most of the ships in this expedition, we've established a schedule for this outfitting process. I thank you for your attention. Are there any questions?" She asked.
"I read that you're requesting we sail between the gates as a fleet. Is this mandatory?" It was Petar who'd asked.
"No, Mr. Kiirilov, it is not. You simply need to arrive at the New Pradesh gate on or ahead of the expedition schedule," she said.
"And if we get to New Pradesh early, will you see us through? We tire of waiting," he replied.
"I apologize for the inconvenience, but no, you will not be admitted early. The TransLoc gates are most efficient when we send a large group through together."
"What about security?" He pushed again.
To her credit Administrator Hoope was unflapped by the questions. "The expedition will be accompanied by the cruiser Cape of Good Hope."
"Are you going to require a turret lock the entire trip?" he asked.
"No, Mr. Kiirilov. We only require a weapons lockdown when you are within one hundred thousand kilometers of our TransLoc terminals. But please understand, Captain LeGrande is under orders to aggressively eliminate all threats to the expedition, whether they come from outside the expedition or from within."
"And when will this babysitting end?" Petar asked, clearly not concerned if he was frustrating Administrator Hoope.
"That is not information we are willing to share at this point. I'd be happy to answer any other questions you have if you'd like to make an appointment. Are there questions from anyone else?" she asked.
His questions had caused a stir within the room. At least I didn't have to wonder why I had a bad feeling.
"If that's all, then we're dismissed. Captain Hoffen, would you join me at the front with your crew?"
Since we'd sat in the front row, it wasn't difficult. She looked up as we approached.
"Ah yes, Captain Hoffen. And this must be Captain Chen." She held her hand out and we introduced the entire group.
"Miss Masters. Ah, yes. I feel like I should apologize for your treatment yesterday. I've taken time to review the incidents. Taken out of context, your response to Mr. Ivov was excessive. I also watched the events leading up to Miss Bertrand's accident. Formally, I believe our security personnel handled the situation correctly. Informally, as a fo
rmer pod-ball contestant, the violation was clear. I understand your reaction and apologize that you were placed in that position."
"Thank you," Tabby said.
"Please don't give me any reason to regret this admission," Hoope said.
"Is there anything else?" I asked.
"Indeed there is. We need your permission to decouple the Adela Chen from its barge and usher the barge through with a Belirand asset."
I looked at Ada and Mom. They had a lot more experience with the Adela Chen than I did.
"That's probably best, Liam," Ada said. "We could even lash her to the barge. There's plenty of room."
I looked at Mom who nodded in agreement.
"Would that work?" I asked Hoope.
"I'll bring it up with our engineers. Worst case, we'll outfit the Adela Chen with a harness," she answered.
***
Celina traded shifts with Big Pete so he could attend the evening's banquet. She'd emphatically insisted that if she had to sit through another night of listening to the relative merits of a tungsten tip vs. nano-steel, she might end up depositing said tip somewhere it would become uncomfortable.
The seating for the second night had shifted and instead of sitting with Ada, Celina and the Carré's we were with Nick, Marny, Selig Licht and his younger three brothers.
"Selig, have you been mining since you were a kid?" I asked. It felt like we probably had a lot in common, both having grown up on a mining colony.
"Das right," he said. I had difficulty adjusting to his thick German accent. "I was born in our habitation dome."
"Do all you boys play pod-ball?" Marny asked looking around the table at the slightly younger Ortel and the twins – Ulran and Merley.
"We're really good," one of the twins said, excited to be given a chance to talk.
"Dah. Selig doesn't play anymore, but Ulran, Merley and I do all right," Ortel said.
"I saw that you were sitting with Jack and Jenny last night. You all should play together," I said.
"We did," Ulran or Merley said.
"How'd they do?"
"Jack is very good, but the girl, Jenny is new to the game," Ortel said.
"And Selig is sweet on Ada." It was the same twin who'd been doing all of the talking.
"Oh?" Tabby perked up and looked over to the eldest Licht.
"Be quiet, Merley. It is not for you to say," Selig said, but the damage was done and his ruddy face turned a brighter shade of red.
I tossed Selig a lifeline. "I heard they have a pod-ball court at Léger Nuage. I wonder if they'd let us start up a league."
This got Merley back to chatting.
"So Selig, are you going to put everyone on a single claim or split up right away? I noticed you have two claims," I said.
"The boys are very good at flying pod-jumpers, so Ortel and Father will be mining one claim and I'll be mining the other. I understand you might have the capacity to haul ore," he said.
"We do. We're not as serious about mining as it looks. My dad, Big Pete, is the serious miner. We'll be doing a minimum job on the other claims, although I think Ada might be a little more interested than I'd originally expected."
"Oberrhein approached Father with a proposition for hauling. Are you saying you won't be competing with them?"
"Oh, not at all. Captain Chen will definitely be hauling ore," I said. "We just haven't formalized what reasonable profit sharing for hauling is. I've heard Oberrhein is offering twenty percent. On Colony 40 we didn't have a long distance to haul ore, but twenty sounds high to me."
"It was similar on Terrence. Do you know what you'll start at?"
"I don't. Ada will be responsible for that. We'll probably start with some sort of cost plus arrangement. So cover fuel and a small profit," I said. "We've some interest from another family. What would you think about sitting down with them and Ada and talking it out?"
"I'd like that," he said. "This Ada. Is she single?"
"Ooh," Merley said. "See. I told you."
I was impressed at how Merley had ignored the conversation up to that point.
It was too late to save Selig, however, and his face turned bright red.
"I think you'll want to be careful when considering a shipper." I hadn't seen Petar walk up behind me. "I understand that security in the belt can be a tricky thing to guarantee."
Tabby spun toward him and I placed my hand on her arm. She had gone from zero to ready to fight in a heartbeat.
"There's no one in the belt right now. What would you know about security?" Tabby asked, dryly.
"Easy, Tabbs," I said.
"Yes. Reel in your leash. I just don't want Mr. Licht making a decision that he would surely regret in the future," Petar said.
"Get out of here, Kiirilov," I said. "Or would you like me to pass your threats along to Belirand. I believe you've been told to stay clear of us."
"Friendly advice," he said and walked away.
TRANSLOCATION
"Cap. I've got Belirand on the comm. They're looking to set the Adela Chen up," Marny called.
It was 1200 with eighteen hours until we'd enter fold-space and travel the hundred and forty seven light years to the Bethe Peierls system. I'd been wondering when they'd want to get us hooked up.
"I'll take it," I said.
"Captain Hoffen? This is Ok Moon Hee with Belirand. Would you be able to meet us at Engineering Bay 301? It's time to outfit the Adela Chen and your barge."
"Roger that. I'd like to bring my other captains along as well," I said.
"Understood. Fifteen minutes?"
"Can do. Hoffen, out," I said and closed the comm.
"Mom, Ada, can you meet me outside of Hotspur. Belirand is ready to work on the Adela Chen."
They both pinged back affirmative. I didn't know if we'd be doing an EVA, so I strapped on my AGBs for good measure.
"Marny, I'm taking Mom and Ada to work on the Adela Chen," I said into the comm.
"We'll keep an eye on things from here," Marny said.
Directions to the engineering bay showed up on my HUD. I flicked it open and saw the familiar vaporous blue arrow run out in front of me.
Mom and Ada were waiting at the bottom of the jetway.
"We've been watching them strap these engines onto ships all morning," I said as I motioned in the direction of the engineering bay.
"They better go easy on my girl," Ada said protectively.
I smiled. "Someone said you and Selig sat together at the banquet last night." Tabby and I had skipped the previous night's banquet, not interested in another confrontation with Petar and Oberrhein.
"Loose lips, Captain. Loose lips," Ada said.
"Oh, come on, are you really going to leave me hanging?" I looked to Mom for support. Of course Mom shrugged as if it was the first she'd heard of it.
Ada flashed me her always brilliant smile, enjoying the attention. "I might as well confess. Jenny won't stop talking about it anyway. Selig is every bit a gentleman and we had a nice evening."
"That's not much of a confession," I said.
"I found the Carrés to be nice too. Their daughter Sevene is adorable. Did you know that Queletin has absolutely no experience in mining?" Ada asked conspiratorially. I suspected she was trying to change the subject.
"Elsene seems more than capable though. Don't you think?" Mom asked.
Ada nodded in agreement. "Definitely."
Moments later we arrived at a double wide airlock marked 'Engineering Bay 0301.' I palmed the door, which lit blue and announced. "Please wait for authorized personnel."
The doors slid open and a narrow Asian woman greeted us.
"Captains Hoffen, Hoffen and Chen. I'm Lead Engineer Ok Moon Hee. Thank you for your prompt arrival," she said. We exchanged the obligatory handshakes. "Follow me and we can talk as we walk."
She led us down a hallway into a large hangar.
"Barge traffic through the TransLoc gate is relatively unusual but not unprecedented. The issue is that sim
ply applying the standard TransLoc engine harness to the loosely connected Tug has proven to be unpredictable."
"Define unpredictable," I said.
"The Anino Trans Location system works by communicating a fold-space wave to the Anino TransLoc engines with an extraordinary degree of precision. The engines create a relativity bubble around the ship that allows it to remain on that wave. If any portion of the craft exits that wave, it becomes subject to normal space. Even with our best resources, the effects of those forces are unpredictable. In layman's terms, the result is always bad," she said.
"Define bad." I was pretty sure I understood what bad might indicate.
"Most of the time the ship is pulled from the relativity bubble and breaks apart. The ship and its cargo are spread unpredictably throughout the galaxy."
I nodded. It was a unique, if not well applied, definition of bad.
"And you have a way to make this safe?" I asked.
"We do," she said. She'd led us to the edge of a nearly transparent blue pressure barrier that separated the engineering bay from space. We were only a few hundred meters away from the Adela Chen. "Instead of mating the tug and barge with your traditional linkage, we'd like to build a solid superstructure that mounts directly to the barge and fits as an exoskeleton around the Adela Chen."
"Frak. That'd make sailing her nearly impossible," I said.
"True enough if you were going to sail in normal space. The thing is, in fold-space, your only responsibility is keeping the ship centered along the fold-space wave. We've reviewed Captain Chen's and Captain Hoffen's sailing records and believe they have more than sufficient skill to master this task."
"You're asking Ada and me to sail a rig that could become unstable and spread us over half the galaxy?" I asked.
"No, Captain Hoffen. We would feel more comfortable with Captain Silver Hoffen as the other pilot," she responded.
I looked to Mom and then Ada. It would have been a perfect moment to give me a hard time, but neither of them looked to be in a joking mood.
Buccaneers (Privateer Tales Book 8) Page 8
