by Chris Hechtl
What it really meant was that ET hadn't quite fully recovered enough to need the products even though they were modernized. And consumers were more interested in air cars than ground cars at the moment, which meant the tire market was about to take a hit, and manufacturers in Airea 3 were anticipating it.
“I think we can safely table this for a little while longer. Let them mull over the implied threat. Maybe a bit of back door mentions of their own tariffs? Heavens knows the ET delegates have been pissy about it for a while now,” T'rel'n said.
“True,” the admiral said, sipping his coffee. “What's this about salvage and new ships?”
With more ships plying space between the star systems, there was far more interest in ships and shipyards. The small civilian yards were already saturated with work. They didn't have enough skilled workers to expand either. Civilians in Pyrax worked with investors to build a civilian yard. They contracted naval engineers to work on their own time as consultants on the project. The consultants were hampered by ONI and Commander Teague however. Irene wanted to make certain they didn't reveal any secrets.
It was inevitable that people were looking for a quick payday. Most were picked up however. But now that things were starting to come together, a few were out there looking for more.
“According to our reports salvage claims have been declared for four ships found in several star systems in the sector. Two of them in star systems Fourth Fleet recently visited so the ships may be recently taken,” Admiral Sienkov supplied. “We, we meaning Naval Intelligence,” he paused in an aside to the audience. “Apparently we've known the location of those ships for a few months.”
“That is correct, from captured personnel and databases,” Admiral Irons replied with a nod as he took a sip of coffee. He grimaced; the mug was cool. He sent a mental command to his implants to morph his hand to emit microwave radiation to warm the cup up once more.
“The problem is, one of those salvage claims as you know is mired. I believe your chief of staff filed an injunction blocking the claim and request for assistance,” D'red stated, indicating Sprite.
“That is correct,” Sprite stated. “It isn't salvage or abandoned; it is in an empty star system.” She sent the file to Admiral Irons as a reminder. Protector caught it, scanned it into memory, and then put it up on the admiral's HUD.
Admiral Irons scowled as his eyes scanned left and right to read the entry. “Commander Sprite is correct; it isn't salvage. Io 11 left it for their future use. I was in on that; I helped them build a few of the facilities there.”
He glanced over to D'red's holographic avatar. “I don't know who briefed you, but none of what is there has been abandoned, just mothballed.”
“But there are no caretakers in place,” T'rel'n stated.
“You place a satellite or platform somewhere you don't expect someone to come around and take it. They marked the facilities as their property.”
“She shouldn't have left it,” Moira interjected.
The admiral glanced at the woman. “She, being the ship or in this case ships plural, couldn't take the massive space station with them. They are using it as a staging ground—an orbital warehouse and other facilities.”
Moira wrinkled her nose. “For …”
“The orbital warehouse is self-explanatory.” Moira nodded. “The other facilities were built to build more starships. It's a slip,” the admiral explained reluctantly. “What surprises me is that Fourth Fleet hadn't found it when they passed through the star system a short time ago.”
“They didn't look hard enough?” Mister Custard asked.
The admiral glanced at the agricultural secretary and then nodded. “Yeah, there is that I suppose. We may never know. I guess we can count our blessings that they were in a hurry.” He looked over to the attorney general. “But stomp on that.”
“Squashing it … I'll have to check the legal status.”
“Here,” the admiral said. He tapped at the tablet in his hand. It was functioning as a virtual keyboard to his own implants and files. He opened the appropriate files and then attached them and then sent them to the Veraxin Cyber. “Here you go.”
“What is …? I see. It has an active beacon. The salvage crew did admit that, and I see from your file that you advised them to follow all legal steps to establish the claim. Interesting, though the beacon only activated when they attempted to board. I'm noting that the salvage team tried to cut their way aboard and were warned off by an automated booby-trap. They were asking for government assistance,” the Veraxin clacked.
“Booby trapped?” Admiral Sienkov asked. He looked at the president.
“It's against space-time maritime law as you know,” the Veraxin stated.
Admiral Irons smiled slightly. “I know. I'm wondering if it was a bluff or not.”
“Again, unknown.”
“Warn them off for now. Remind them it has an active beacon and was left by an active ship. Don't jump the claim.”
“Hmm, mining rights, claim jumping … I suppose I can find enough references there to tie them up for a while, at least until one of the ships shows up.”
“Yes. Molly is around this sector. I believe she's headed in that direction. Sprite, put a call out to her,” the admiral said, making a note.
Sprite's avatar nodded. “I'll let Faith know something is up, sir.”
Moira nodded. “Good. They can then file the necessary claim papers, and we can wash our hands of the problem or at least fall back and let the courts handle it.”
“Agreed.”
“I'd recommend that the claim jumpers try a carrot instead. I wonder if this Molly would work with them?” T'rel'n asked.
“It is a possibility if they approach the problem properly and don't burn bridges by pissing Faith and her crew off,” Sprite stated. “I'll make the suggestion since our current civilian shipyards are saturated with work. Perhaps they can work a deal. Manning it full time would prevent claim jumping in the future.”
“And give us another star system to defend,” Admiral Sienkov growled.
“And one to potentially tax for revenue,” T'rel'n stated smoothly. The human admiral gave the Veraxin an amused “you would say that” look.
“This situation and similar ones are going to make things dicey when it comes time to arbitrate any dispute that arises however,” the Veraxin added as an afterthought. “Especially if there is a conflict of interest.”
“We will deal with it as it comes I suppose. We can't have everything,” the admiral said with a shrug.
“Yes, sir, moving on,” D'red said with a nod. He knew his boss was at the end of his patience level, and it was time to stop pushing and let the matter rest.
“Yes, please do.”
:::{)(}:::
After a short recess for brunch, the cabinet met once more. “Okay, we need to wrap this up, but we've still got a few details to finish. I understand there were questions about consolidation forces with Bek and Nuevo as well as new construction?”
“Budget concerns from my end,” T'rel'n stated, clacking his mandibles. “We still haven't figured out the mechanics of the tax system with them as well,” he stated. “I should have sent a delegation to both star systems.”
“Next run,” Moira stated. She glanced at the admiral. “And we need to work out the upgrades, tech advances, and this plan to build space stations in the empty star systems. I'm still confused about that one,” she said.
“One thing at a time,” Admiral Irons stated. “But I admit, some of them are intertwined,” he said ruefully.
“Yes, like how we get so many people out. And ships,” Doctor Kraft stated.
“Trade as well. We need regular established trade,” Captain Broken Antenna stated.
“Okay, let's get to that then. We've got various proposals being kicked around in the Admiralty right now,” Admiral Irons stated with a nod to Admiral Sienkov. “The bottleneck is the rapids of course.”
“What he means is we nee
d special navigators to helm that stretch of space. It is rough,” Sprite said. “I was dubious about trying to run it myself,” she said.
“I'm glad you didn't try myself,” Admiral Sienkov stated. He shook his head. “It was rough on Caroline the one time we went,” he said, glancing at Moira. The woman nodded.
“You said you were working on a plan, Mister President?” the T'clock asked, waving her good antenna at the admiral.
“We are indeed. What we're discussing now is permanently securing B101a1 and building it up as a node.”
“That is … ambitious. There is little there to use, Admiral. It would have to be all shipped in,” Broken Antenna stated.
“At great cost I'd imagine,” T'rel'n added.
“We'll get to that part. First, we build a station there. Instead of building it near the entrance to the rapids, we build it in the inner system for material,” he looked at the industrial secretary. “Sandra'kall, I'm afraid we'll need a factory ship. One of the ones the navy is leasing out would work I suppose. We will have to break up a moon or dwarf planet for raw material.”
“Okay, I see that part and ship in components as well,” the Centaurian stated. Her avatar bowed slightly. “A wise two-prong plan.”
“It's just part of it. The other problem is defenses, which falls on the navy,” the admiral said, waving a hand to indicate himself and Admiral Sienkov. “We'll need to build defenses there and have a stronger picket.”
“Agreed,” Admiral Sienkov stated.
“The other part of the plan is to do the same thing in B102c. There are dozens of derelict ships there I understand.”
“Which can be rebuilt or used as raw material,” Moira interjected.
“Heh, wait until the salvage people hear about that! They'll be all over it!”
“They've got to get there first. And right now they'd have to run through navy shipping,” the admiral stated. “We hold the route, and we'll continue to do so to protect it and the star systems on the other side,” the admiral said.
“Thank you,” Moira murmured quietly.
The admiral nodded. “The other part of the plan is to have shipping run to B102c and stage through the station there while expert helm crews act as harbor pilots. They'll board a ship and get them through the rapids. Once on the other side, they'll get off on the station and then on to the next ship back.”
“A sound proposal. But you only have so many pilots to spare currently,” Captain Broken Antenna stated.
“Enough for two crews. One is currently on Caroline; the other is on the Sally Ride, which is hauling the ansible cores to the nexus. That is why we didn't pack the other ships that went to B101a1 with Caroline and send them with her if you remember.”
That got a few people to sit up in sudden intent speculation. The admiral smiled briefly. “Ah, I thought that would wake people up. Yes, we'll be able to establish regular contact with Bek and through couriers, Nuevo soon.”
“Okay, so we have a plan to get goods and material through the rapids. I'm assuming the ships on the other side will eventually have hyperdrives? So they can form a microeconomy there?” T'rel'n asked, turning his eye stalks to Moira and then to Admiral Sienkov.
“Yes,” Moira stated. “By all means,” she said with a nod.
“Good,” Captain Broken Antenna stated. “They don't need the water dweller pilots to ply space between Nuevo and Bek. From what I've read, Nuevo needs a kick to get them going.”
“Nuevo is a market Bek has exploited. But Nuevo hasn't been able to get any sort of balance in trade the other way unfortunately,” T'rel'n stated. “They are too dependent on industrial centers in Bek.”
“True,” Sandra'kall stated. “We will work on that.”
“Good in theory, but the credits have to come from somewhere,” T'rel'n stated peevishly.
“We'll work it out. But now you know how we're planning to move men, material and ships through the rapids. It will remain a bottleneck and will continue to be one for a while.”
“I imagine ships will stack up on either end. One would almost think finding another route in would be imperative,” Bengali stated.
“There is one other way in,” the admiral stated. That made a Moira and Admiral Sienkov stiffen and look at him warily. “I had considered it, but the entrance is highly dangerous. I'm also going to classify it.”
“Classify … are we allowed to at least know it?” Broken Antenna asked.
The admiral sized the alien insect up for a few moments then looked at Sprite. She spread her hands apart. “I don't see how it can hurt. The route itself can remain classified, Admiral. And anyone who does know the entrance point wouldn't want to go there anyway,” she stated.
Admiral Irons grunted as all eyes fell on him. Finally, he exhaled. “Fine, but you aren't going to like it.”
“Sir?” Broken Antenna asked carefully.
“Crellis,” he stated succulently.
That made everyone sit back and express a wave of revulsion and disbelief. He nodded as they cleared the air. “Right. No one will want to go there. No one. So, I'll leave it at that.”
“I wonder if we should have built defenses on the jump point to … where does it go?” Admiral Sienkov demanded.
“Direct to Bek. It is a very long route, a bit convoluted and perilous. Definitely not for the faint of heart. It is why the rapids were used instead.” It wasn't quite true actually. The real jump point was in the empty star system of B-107, two jumps away from Crellis but one away from B-103c5. They didn't need to know the real location, just that it existed. If the news did ever get out, let someone look in the wrong and rather dangerous place he reasoned. It would certainly make most of them think more than twice about trying it.
“I can see that,” Bengali stated, bringing the admiral back to the here and now.
“Well, I don't. I've been in the rapids. If it is long, it's better than going through them!” Moira stated, shuddering theatrically.
“It would quadruple your time to get there in just that jump alone. And then you'd have to get there,” Sprite explained as if to a child. She replaced her image with a holo map. “To get to Crellis, you'd have to jump an additional five star systems southeast,” she said, highlighting the route, “then turn around and do the long jump. The geometry is such that you could probably jump from here as well,” she highlighted an empty star system two jumps in from Crellis. “But it is just, if not more, dangerous and uncharted.”
“Oh,” Moira stated.
“Best to go with what we've got,” Admiral Sienkov stated. The others nodded or signaled reluctant assent.
“In order to get more personnel out, we're discussing leasing a liner or using stasis pods to move the personnel in a timely manner. The stasis pod option isn't a popular one,” the admiral stated.
Moira shivered. “I should hope not! Though it would lessen life support costs. And it would definitely ease the anxiety quotient while in the rapids I suppose,” she said reluctantly.
“True,” the admiral stated. “The problem is the larger the ship is the bigger the helm team needs to be and the better they need to be. They can travel in the lower hyperbands but that stretches the transit time out and prolongs the damage to the ship and fatigue on the helm crew.”
“Which isn't good. Now I see why you mentioned a station on either end,” T'rel'n stated thoughtfully. “You are considering personnel, ships and cargo stacking up there?”
“Yes,” Captain Broken Antenna stated. “I see it too, especially with what, only two crews? Can we get more?”
“Eventually. There are a few in the pipeline, but only a few,” Sprite stated.
“Can we recruit more? I'd think if we offered them the right incentives they'd jump at the chance,” Moira stated.
“It's not that simple. Waving credits only helps some people. For the water dwellers, they live hand to mouth. Some barely understand the concept of credits. And living in space for them is harsh and challenging. Living un
der military discipline makes it even harder,” the admiral stated.
Admiral Sienkov nodded. He remembered an entry about a Neosealion helmswoman, something about her not wanting to be in the navy after being drafted? He made a mental note to look into it.
“Part of the problem is we can't force them to be helmsman either,” Sprite said, apparently echoing the intelligence minister's thoughts. “We received some backlash on that already.”
“Lovely,” Moira sighed, pursing her lips in annoyance. “So they are as much of a pain in the ass as they were before the war,” she grumbled.
“To each his or her own. What about the Ssilli project? Project Resurrection? And didn't I read some expenditure reports on Agnosta?” T'rel'n asked, looking at Doctor Kraft.
“That is … a long-term project I suppose you could say,” Doctor Kraft said. He seemed to gulp then turned and burped into his hand. “Excuse me, sorry, I shouldn't have had tomatoes on my eggs I guess,” he said.
Admiral Irons cracked a small smile of sympathy.
“Um, yes, anyway, I understand Doctor Thornby,” he glanced at Admiral Irons, “has made some significant progress, but they have a very high mortality rate. Unfortunately, it looks like an artificial environment is the only way to ensure species reproduction at this point, unless that Ssilli world can be found,” he stated. He spread his hands apart. “But from the autopsy reports I've seen, it's not a permanent solution there either. Both bodies had high traces of metal poisoning. The seas are rough on that planet as well.”
“So, no answer there. And even if they were being hatched, they'd still take years to grow up and then they'd have to decide if they wanted to join or not,” Moira stated.
“Freedom and all its privileges,” the admiral stated. “No one is a slave.”
Moira frowned then nodded. “My apologies if I implied otherwise.”
“You didn't. I wanted to make sure we're all on the same page,” the admiral stated.
“We are a bit off topic and need to move this along,” Sprite said politely. “Table this. I can forward you a brief. But it will be brief since we're keeping a lot of Project Resurrection classified for the moment,” she stated.