by James Edward
“By the Lord’s long arm, Ray, you have reached down into the bowels of hell and pulled out a ringer!” Sergie shouted as he recognized Fred. “Mr. Fred! You old bastard, it’s great to see you!”
The rest of the team seemed to swivel from looking at Sergie, startled by his outburst, and then over to where Sergie was looking and grinning.
“Ah, my most unruly apprentice!” Fred responded as he made his way over to meet Sergie. After having his hand crushed in a violent handshake and then suffering a strong bear hug, he was released to the ground. “Sergie, I see that you haven’t lost your enthusiasm in your old age.”
“Bah! Old age. How about you, you old fossil? Did Ray steal you from that tottering old spacer’s home that you were assigned to keep you from blowing up engines?” Sergie laughed.
“A voluntary and completely amicable agreement on both sides, I am afraid,” Fred responded.
“Gentlemen and ladies, as Sergie has discovered, we have a new senior team member. Please meet Fred Arness, a relative genius in the engineering field, especially where it has to do with starships. Fred has agreed to relieve Sergie of the engineering aspects, and that frees Sergie up to concentrate on the R&D side of things. Fred will be based at Sloman with a mandate to get the two repair ships up and running soonest. Then with those acting as our shipyard, we will need the ammunition ship producing missiles, and after that it will be the ships that can be repaired fastest.
“Fred, grab a seat anywhere. You know Sergie, and you will probably meet some more familiar faces in this system. I will leave it to each of you to make Fred’s acquaintance at another time. What I need now is a report on all departments.”
“R&D is progressing faster than expected now that were have our own dedicated facilities on Panhandle,” Sergie rumbled. “The research into nano technology is doubling every day, and we expect a breakthrough by week’s end. Actually, we have had a breakthrough but as proper scientists must confirm it. If the nanos works as anticipated, it will take over a large portion of the manufacturing of parts, pieces, and dangerous materials.
“Weaponry, the Tiger is a ship-killer missile, vicious but slow, and it can be intercepted by antimissile and point defense. We have a new missile called Mongoose. These have the ability to avoid antimissile and point defense. They also have a three-megaton yield, which will cause damage to the shields half again further out than the Tiger. Our lasers are more powerful thanks to the re-cutting of the stones via nanotechnology. We are working on a particle beam weapon that will cut through the standard shielding and plating of our present warships. This research was going on for years before it was cancelled due to budget cuts.
“The nanotechnology has allowed us to delve into the metallurgical field a lot further than we were able to before. It is anticipated that we will be able to produce a metal-glass alloy that is not only stronger than what we have but also far lighter. This will happen within the next two months if we get the nano techs up to speed.
“A surprise in shields and skins. We have been able to create a liquid porcelain alloy that will form over the skin of the ship. It will resist, not stop, lasers, particle beams, and missile wave blasts. What does penetrate will have a minimal effect, although accumulative over repeated hits. With an increase in shield power and the ceramic cover, we can effectively have a destroyer take on a cruiser and win the outcome.
“Finally, we have developed a better way of mining the cores out of our planets. We have improved the efficiency of our large power lasers by 300 percent, although they are power hogs. We now will be able to cut the time down to weeks instead of months or years. Panhandle is now a resort compared to the other bases.
“The downside is a desperate need of minerals, ores, and manpower. The ceramics alone are almost prohibitive, but if the nanotech gets going, that will help relieve some of the shortfall. Materials, time, and manpower are our Achilles’ heel at the moment.
“That’s it for now. I expect that now that we have that old pirate managing things on Sloman, our efficiency will get even better.”
“Wow. Great news,” Ray said to the nods of agreement around the table. “Thanks, Sergie. What about refining and gas gathering?”
“I will report for Raj and Farley as well,” Gustav Spritz said. “They are both busy and couldn’t make the meeting, but as we work almost side by side, I can give the general report. Mine first.
“Refining, we have managed to upgrade our refining efficiency to 92 percent. The processing is recovering approximately five hundred tons of finished product per day cycle. Sergie has been riding us hard for a thousand tons a day, but until we get the nanotechnology, we are limited to five or six hundred. Understand that is a total of all finished product. We are talking precious metals that help with the electrical superconducting, weapon-grade metals for lasers, particle beams, and missiles, structural metals for homes, stations, and ship skeletons, trace metals, and minerals.
“Gas refining is better. We have been producing two thousand tons of hydrogen, methane, hydrocarbons, inert gases, and exotic gases. We are in the process of expanding our tank farm so that the tankers can load directly. With the acquisition of the four new (old) tankers, making seven in all, we are shipping a tanker a day to the AGW systems. We will need at least ten to twenty more tankers to handle the improvement in efficiency from the gas scoop and the refining. The gas scoop has been worked and reworked both by station engineers and by R&D to get its capacity improved to 150 percent of its original design. We recommend a second scoop with more ships. With the profits from that, we can buy the AGW out and fire everyone in the PRC.
“Now our nearest neighbor is the Garthwood system, and Sempter as the major planet, in the northern spiral. To the south is the planet Omicron 2 in the Yegus system. I suggest that we develop a tank farm at both planets and have a wholesale market, allowing other companies to buy off of us and load there. It will keep people out of Conrad and give us a level of competitive legitimacy. Both systems are still loyal to the AGW and will enjoy the extra taxation. Ray, your bean counters should be able to number crunch a profitable setup. This will also give us a quick turnaround time for our tankers.”
“Thanks, Gustav,” Ray said. “We will look into that idea with the accountants. Maybe you can get together with R&D and Fred here to work out a plan to improve the loading and unloading of the tankers.
“Bev, how are we doing with the settlements?”
“Panhandle has been operational for a few weeks now. It’s actually a nice place. The main area is about a kilometer long and wide, with a five-hundred-meter ceiling. We are building side rooms on the designated north side of the hollow. R&D has taken over the east and south sides, with the west side left for future development.
“Darcy, they too have excavated a cavern approximately a kilometer long and wide. The ceiling is approximately eight hundred meters high. We have put in housing to the tune of a thousand apartments with another thousand being developed. There is a commercial district with restaurants and entertainment centers, bars, shops, and so on. We are burning out a park and a water area. The water we have found on site by the way. We are also developing a blast door that will close if we are attacked.
“Sloman has been readied for receiving the ships. We can pull everything up to a cruiser inside but the battleship, Boxer One and Two, and Matilda will have to be outside. Inside we have berthing and construction facilities. As the ships are worked on, so is construction of the facility. We will rely heavily on the two Boxers to supply us with the proper manufactured parts, but once we get to construction complete, we will have enough room for all the frigates, destroyer, cruisers, and corvettes. We have also sent a coring crew to open up the other side of Sloman for the battleship. Oh there has been some talk about corporate colors so that we can paint our ships. We expect that engineering will put together the two repair ships to use as a core for a ship construction yard.
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“We still haven’t had any luck as to how to hide the Matilda and Boxer One and Two. For the time being, Sloman is the furthest away from our station here or the gate. In six months, she will come around, and we will have to move them. There is an asteroid out there by the name of Haven. It has the oddest dark side, as it is relatively flat except for two massive craters. These craters are approximately eight hundred meters deep and two kilometers long. Each crate is big enough that they can take two ships. We can either land and anchor or have a frigate or two hold them there. That would just leave Matilda, and she can hold a geocentric orbit on Panhandle on the far side so that she will be well hidden. It will mean that we hold all traffic at the gate until we clear the ships before releasing them to come in system. Not a popular idea but doable.
“I have assigned administrators to all planets so that we have a hierarchy and someone to do the troubleshooting. On Panhandle it’s Devon Athew, Darcy is Learned Oster, and Sloman is Lon Harrison. Each of these people has been selected after careful scrutiny and for their respective qualifications for the different tasks that each planetoid is involved with. These people will report to me on a daily basis.”
The different department heads reported in and updated everyone, especially Ray, on what was happening and what was going to occur. Ray was pleased with what had occurred while he was gone. There was accelerating progress, and soon they would see the fruits of not only the scientific developments but the construction benefits.
Ray sat at his desk going over the various reports and working on the draft to send to the AGW to cede from the empire. He knew that he would have to go to the assembly and, with the help of Gable Houseman, Weatherfew, and Charles Redone, present it to the sitting council. He knew that as soon as he presented the writ, he would be under scrutiny and danger. He couldn’t rely on Lyn, as she needed to stay covert, so he had decided to ask Sean Wheatly to accompany him. When the time came, Sean and his staff would be set up to give him as much protection as they could. He wondered if he could sneak away and see Sinclair but decided that that was an unnecessary risk to her. Well, he would love to see her; he was captivated by her strength and beauty. Even her voice made his heart race but not so to put her in danger or cause her to be considered a suspect. Best to forget about it for now.
CHAPTER 7
Ceding the System
NESTOR COPELAND WAS A VICIOUS man and an equally vicious killer. He was a medium-sized man with a small build, dark skin, a poor complexion, thinning hair, and crooked teeth. His temperament was that of a street bully, but the one saving grace for him was he had a brilliant analytical mind. That was just as well, as he was secretly in charge of the security division of the PRC, and oddly enough, he was also looking after the AGW side of the equation as well. The Ministry of Intelligence made strange bedfellows.
It was easy for him to pick up someone for questioning and test him or her for loyalty. If too loyal to the AGW, then they could disappear. If they were more bent on their own skin, then he could coerce them to work for the PRC. He could use his position to find and ferret out people who were opposed to the PRC.
He enjoyed the pain that he could inflict on others. Their screams and moans were, to him, music, and Nestor wanted to write a symphony of screams, crying, and begging, along with the sounds of straps, whips, wood, steel, and whatever else striking writhing bodies. The standing joke for him was that he was mandated to ferret out insurrections against the AGW, and he was in the thick of an insurrection himself. How he enjoyed looking in the pleading eyes of a victim as he drove a drill into their bones. He felt the pleasure of a slow and painful strangulation. Don’t even get him started on the sex. Lord, he loved raping his victims; the degradation was just sweet. Afterwards he added to his income by selling them to the brothels on the rim or to the pirates. It was just fun to break them and train them.
He was sitting at his desk going over reports from operatives. He had been informed by the PRC’s legal front, Great Ursa, that an upstart corporation was making inroads in the fuel transportation business. This business was a minor one for G.U., but all things should be investigated. Maybe the G.U. could try to take it over. “What was the name again?” He shuffled some papers and found the report again. Conrad Group. A private corporation involved in the moving of fuel and freight. Seemed harmless enough, definitely nothing showing that was untoward. He decided to send the file to the investigation branch; they could flesh out the file some before he would pay it additional attention. In the meantime, he had a delicious young victim sitting in a cell. He knew she was innocent, but she was just too pretty to ignore. She would become one of the lost and forgotten but not before she satisfied a lot of his cravings.
Rasper Whitmore sighed. Another load of investigations to do. That bastard Nestor was sloughing more of his work on him. He shrugged; he knew that he was going to push most of these investigations down the line. He decided that the easiest would be Conrad Corp. It seemed easy enough. Find the principal owners, net worth, assets, damage to existing businesses, and infringement. Also, of course, who would Conrad be loyal to if they were required to take sides? Seemed simple enough. He typed into the computer Conrad Corp and started reading their corporation prospectus. The usual principals, CEO was a Ray Hunter, COO was Beverly Kindrick, and the accounting firm was Moonshot Financial. He could get a financial statement from them. Hmm, legal was Kobimarsu, one of the most prominent in the system and very well protected. Well, all he needed was the incorporation papers and licenses.
He keyed in Ray’s name and looked at his history. Ah, he thought, Fleet, demoted and forced out. Obviously competent, as it was Fuggoret who demoted and ousted him. You don’t become a CEO by stupidity, and more than likely not a fan of Fuggoret or the PRC. It appears that this Ray got enough seed capital to start up a freighting business. Who else? Here it is, a Beverly Kindrick, another ex-Fleet washout. Her fleet record was impressive, and he could see why Ray had hired her. Maybe she had a stake in the business. Let’s see. Hmmm, ah, ex-Governor Charles Redone is the corporation rep here in the capital. He has a few connections with the government so is a bit hands off. We can always visit him to see what he has to say. All in all, a mediocre business on the surface. He had no idea why Great Ursa was whining. A quick chat with Redone, and he would file this inquiry.
Charles Redone sat at his desk and read again the request for an interview from the Intelligence Ministry. So, he thought, we have made enough waves for the IM to look into us. This should be routine, as they are coming here.
“Darla, when is the IM getting here?” he asked his secretary.
“In an hour, sir,” she replied. Just then the video buzzed and announced that a Rasper Whitmore was coming up the elevator. “Uh, they are here now, Charles.”
Charles rose as Rasper walked through the doorway. He took in the intel investigator, his sallow, pinched face. Not very muscularly built, so he was an administration ferret. He shook the man’s hand and had him sit while he ordered coffees for both of them.
“So tell me, Mr. Whitmore, what is it that the Conrad Group can do to help government intel?” Charles asked as he sipped the coffee that Darla had just delivered.
“Oh, just a routine follow-up on an inquiry,” Rasper said as he looked around. He took in the spartan office. He also knew that this area of the city was not exactly the cream of the office districts. “You were incorporated just two years ago, but the CEO, Ray Hunter, was still serving with the Fleet at that time. We are just wondering about the time line; discrepancies always raise eyebrows, you know. We are also interested in your future plans. Will you be expanding into competitive markets? As you well realize, a glut of competing firms drives the profits down to the point that the government loses a tax base—unfavorable, you know.”
“Ray was involved in an incident in the Faraday system that resulted in a court martial,” Charles replied carefully. “He knew that his days in the Fleet
were numbered from that point on, and when he was subsequently demoted, he decided to go into business himself. As you probably know, once a spacer gets the taste of space, it’s hard to get it out. He had considered doing this upon retirement, so the court martial was just the incentive that he needed.
“Now, as to expanding into existing fields. Well there are no monopoly laws, so free trade is the order of the day if a business is to survive. As we speak, we are involved in creating a wholesale fuel market that other haulers can take advantage of. It is our ambition to be the premier wholesaler for the empire. We already have a service agreement with Omicron 2 and Sempter for tank farm facilities.
“Now I do hope that this information does not get to our competitors, as you are the first to be told about the forward-looking plans,” Charles stated. “Such early release of information would require me as a company representative to file a strenuous protest with the senior ministry officials.”
“This is a cursory investigation. We do not share our information with anybody,” Rasper said rather primly. He knew that the information would be passed to the PRC to see if it interfered with any of their business dealings. But he didn’t want to have the government order an investigation into unfair business practices perpetrated by the Intelligence Ministry. He decided to withhold the report for a while. “I would like to thank you for your honesty and openness. I believe we are done for the time being.”
Charles smiled and rose to shake his hand. Escorting him to the door, he bid him a pleasant good-bye and returned to his office. He called Darla and ordered her to contact the Conrad through the satellite relays that Ray had previously place in strategic locations. Charles knew that Ray would get his message in about five hours, not two days. He informed Ray that the IM was now in the process of investigating Conrad and to watch himself and watch for visitors.
