Earthers
Page 28
As the station completed its first level, the number of required construction crews quadrupled. Having started with a central level, two more levels could be added simultaneously — one above and one below.
In addition, the station’s first level was designed to be the primary transport hub. Terminal arms would radiate out around this core, and crews were put to work building out the arms.
Soon, new arrivals via the Messinants network found that there was no need to wait in the dome’s dorms. They were assigned to work crews immediately.
As the fifth level was completed, Pyrean engineers and techs went to work to build out the infrastructure for the extensive hydroponic gardens. President Leslie Finian had promised this. The station would grow fruits and vegetables for the inhabitants, and Pyreans would manage the process.
Nothing pleased the Jatouche more than to know that the promise was being kept. Their mouths watered at the thought of Pyrean juices.
Omnian freighters plied space between Triton and alliance worlds to collect the material that had been declared to Julien at Hyronzy Station. As with the freighters plying space to Pimbor, those leaving from Triton were always accompanied by Trident squadrons.
Much of the material that was loaded into the freighters from alliance worlds would serve to complete the vast utilities runs and the station’s interiors. The products would save the Omnians an enormous amount of time and expense.
Mickey was in conference with Edmas, Jodlyne, Miriam, and Luther when he received a message.
Wes replied, a hint of exasperation transmitting.
Mickey regarded the SADEs, who’d heard the exchange. They answered no in unison to Mickey’s unasked question. He sighed and sent,
Wes smiled at the Veklocks, whose imperial stares were focused on him. Wonderful, Wes mentally groused, I get to delegate a commodore, who’s a superior officer, to haul three dignitaries across the galaxy.
When Wes explained the circumstances, the Veklock triumvirate realized they had no choice. Tasked by their home world to create the Omnian-alliance financial exchange agreement, they were required to pursue the endeavor to completion.
The triumvirate boarded a traveler. They were dismayed to discover the seats weren’t prepared to accommodate their wings. Feeling humiliated and frustrated, the Veklocks folded their wings forward and sat their slender frames delicately on the seats. Uttering squawks, they shot upright.
The crew, who had put up with the Veklocks’ remarks proclaiming their superiority, pretended not to notice the disturbance.
As other passengers filled the traveler, the triumvirate tried again. When the nanites embraced their bodies, all was well. That was until the female and her male partners discovered the traveler’s first stop was the medical station. They considered themselves priority passengers.
When the traveler finally slid into a Trident bay, the triumvirate was slightly mollified.
However, it was the traveler crew members who were elated, as they handed off their passengers to a lieutenant.
a crew member said to another, as the traveler’s hatch closed.
the other crew member replied, and both laughed.
* * * * *
Z replied.
Z replied.
Renée contacted Tatia about the Veklocks. The admiral was aware of the squadron’s arrival, and she said she would inform the commodore that he’d be returning to Pyre shortly.
Tatia mused.
As good hosts, Alex and Renée met the triumvirate and escorted them via the grand park, of course, to a small conference room.
The Veklocks immediately took note that the round table had only three chairs.
“We’re not staying,” Alex replied to the three lowered beaks and the six large orbs that focused on him.
“You’ll be meeting with our financial personnel,” Renée added, motioning the Veklocks to the chairs. “They’re the directors of Omnia Bank.”
As the triumvirate sat, Alex said, “Let me introduce Julien, who will lead the discussion for us.”
The table’s holo-vid lit, and Julien’s head and shoulders were displayed. “Greetings,” he said, his voice issuing from the base of the holo-vid. “Welcome to the city-ship Freedom. Let me introduce the other team members.”
As Julien spoke, Z and Miranda entered the room, and the triumvirate muttered subdued squawks at the immense size of the Omnians.
“You can appreciate why we haven’t supplied more chairs,” Renée said sweetly, as she indicated the holo-vid and the standing SADEs.
“We’ll leave the six of you to it,” Alex said. Then Renée and he left the room.
“Let us begin,” Julien said. “We need to work toward an understanding of rates paid to workers common to alliance races ... engineers, techs, captains, pilots, security, medical, and others.”
“That’s not a direction we pursue in these matters,” the female Veklock said, with authority.
“Then we’re done,” Z replied. He’d spoken in a conversational tone, but his mass, which loomed above the table, spoke much louder.
“I believe you’ve been tasked with a mission to create a financial exchange system,” Julien said. “Provide us with the information we request. We’ll use it to generate our offer. You can accept or reject it.”
“We presume that you carry the necessary data,” Miranda pressed.
Beaks turned toward one another. The males hesitated. Decisions made, they tipped beaks at the female, giving her their approvals. In turn, the female offered her device, saying, “We have the data, but it won’t be any good to you in its present form.”
Miranda stepped forward, accepted the device, connected to it, downloaded all the data, shared it, and returned the device.
The Veklocks orbs were wider than usual.
“Mobile AIs,” one of the males squawked.
“SADEs,” Z corrected.
“You’ll see I left a file open on your device,” Miranda said to the female Veklock. “Please read aloud every symbol in the file. Exclude nothing.”
The female shared the open file with her mates. Without any dissent, she began to read. When she finished, Miranda requested the device again and selected another file.
W
hen the triumvirate female tired of reading, she passed the device to the male on her left.
The Veklocks read for three hours. Then Julien thanked the triumvirate for their cooperation.
“Now, we’d like the information on the rates for the workers and for base materials, such as smelted ores,” Julien said.
By now, the Veklocks were committed to following the SADEs’ lead until a conclusion was reached. Their surprise came when the female shared statistics for various qualifications of engineers and techs, and Z asked questions in their language. Thereafter, the requested pricing was quickly shared.
When the Veklocks finished, the SADEs made their calculations in a few ticks of time.
“Our offer is for an Omnian and alliance exchange in a ratio of approximately three point seven to five point one,” Julien announced. “When you’ve accepted our proposal, we’ll provide more exact numbers.”
Beaks fell open, and orbs shifted from one SADE to another.
“This isn’t how it’s done,” the female objected.
“What do you, dears, propose?” Miranda asked.
Miranda’s term for the Veklocks didn’t translate, but the triumvirate understood the gist of the question.
“We must negotiate,” the female replied. “The value of your services must be determined by us. An initial exchange rate can then be set, but the rate must be adjusted on an annual basis as your services are reevaluated.”
“Do you do this for every sentient world?” Z asked.
“Only for those races yet to enter the alliance but who have discovered their domes’ secrets,” a male replied. “When the races join the alliance, they strictly adhere to our standards for products and work.”
“What’s your response when the alliance discovers it’s technologically inferior to a new society?” Miranda asked, with a bright cheerful smile. When the Veklocks’ beaks clacked shut, she sweetly added, “Do you like the nanites technology in your chair? Did you like the rides in our travelers? Oh, and did you like sailing between the stars?”
There was no need for the triumvirate to confer among themselves. They were ill-prepared to argue against the superiority of Omnian technology. The alliance had always been in a dominant position. Had always been able to dictate terms. Now, it possessed the lesser skills and tech compared to the newcomers.
“How do you propose this to work?” the female asked, acquiescing.
“Simple,” Julien said. “Our mutual financial systems will exchange credits at the rates we’ve specified. You’ll pay for services and goods in alliance credits, and we’ll pay in ours. The systems will handle the conversions for individuals, companies, or governments.”
“That’s it?” a male asked dubiously.
“What could be simpler?” Z returned.
“What happens when the alliance achieves parity in services and products with Omnians?” the other male asked.
The Veklocks were disturbed by the quiet stares they received.
“What will the alliance offer to match Omnian efforts when we install quantum-linked gates between Pyre and Omnia, between Pyre and Sol, between Pyre and the human colonies?” Miranda asked.
The triumvirate’s beaks clacked several times. It was a demonstration of their disdain for the concept. They waited for a response from the SADEs, but the quiet stares had returned.
“Recognize that if we set future dates to reevaluate this agreement,” Julien said, “it might not be in the alliance’s favor. Are you willing to risk that?”
When the Veklocks hesitated, Z turned toward Miranda. He asked, “What would you estimate our costs to be for leading the resistance to remove the Colony from alliance space ... if we were to charge for it, I mean?”
“Probably more than the alliance could afford,” Miranda said, staring at the triumvirate.
A male puffed up his feathers. “We know your leaders have offered these services without charges,” he remonstrated. “What reevaluation date would you be willing to offer?”
“Twenty Pyrean annuals would be the soonest,” Z replied, “but we expect to be constructing Q-gates before then.”
The female regarded her mates. Each male shook his beak in negation, and she understood the message. “We accept the exchange rate and choose not to review the agreement in the future,” she said.
“When would you put this offer into place?” a male asked.
“The iteration of our system in alliance space has been updated,” Miranda replied.
“What we must understand is how the alliance moves credits so that we can participate,” Julien said.
“Financial records are moved by cubes,” a male replied. “How do you maintain accounts?”
“Our databases are housed on two worlds, this ship, and another like it,” Z replied. “Synchronization is achieved every cycle. We beam the data.”
“How can you achieve parity from the operation of four disparate databases?” the female squawked in surprise.
“How can you not?” Miranda replied, with an arched eyebrow.
“Perhaps, you now understand why we consider the exchange rate that we offered a gift,” Julien said. “In the future, we’ll offer the alliance a better method of maintaining financial records. Please have the Tsargit council confirm the acceptance of our proposal. Jarmonin can send a response to the Triton dome at Pyre, addressed to Alex Racine. Thank you for coming.”
Miranda motioned to the door that she’d signaled aside, and after a few moments of hesitation, the Veklocks stood and followed her out.
Aboard the commodore’s Trident and in a private cabin, the male Veklocks gazed desultorily at each other.
“How do we report this to the triumvirate governors?” a male asked forlornly.
“We don’t,” the female replied, shaking her wings and clacking her beak. “We speak directly to the Tsargit council.”
“It will take a quarter annual to be awarded a position on the calendar,” the other male wailed.
“No,” the female replied sternly. “We inform the council staff that negotiations with the Omnians are complete, but the council’s approval is required by them to initiate the work.”
“But we didn’t negotiate,” the first male repointed out.
“And which alliance members know that besides the three of us?” the female retorted. “Don’t forget the SADEs said they’d provide the alliance with better financial records processes. That intimates at sharing their interstellar communication. We might inform the council that we requested the Omnians’ assistance in obtaining this technology.”
The males’ beaks clacked shut, and they eyed each other. Wings shook briefly, settling them into place. Then they tipped their heads to their mate’s wisdom.
27: Domes or No Domes
Within the space of several days, Alex received a report that Julien had completed the language app for the local cultures. He found that they referred to themselves as the Ot-Totlanyans — the beings who wonder.
After Julien completed his task, he returned to the Freedom.
Another update originated from Tacnock, who signaled Jess.
After the assault test on the dome, Lucia and Jess chose to remain aboard the city-ship rather than confuse the hunters by trading the leaderships again of their old teams. As it was, both of them had been happy to hear from Tacnock that no more of their hunters had been lost.
It was late in the evening, and Tacnock didn’t doubt the admiral would be close to his friend.
Jess and Lucia heard impacts, cackles, and shouts.
Tacnock slurped on his gourd cup and hiccupped again.
Jess and Lucia could hear Tacnock’s snickers.