Omnia (The Silver Ships Book 9)
Page 28
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Into The Dark
“This is Captain Pederson of the freighter Into The Dark, calling Omnia Ships for delivery instructions of the company’s Haraken shipment.” Durly leaned back in his chair to enjoy his hot drink and await the response, but he managed a single sip before his bridge speakers came to life.
“Rainmaker,” Durly said, excitedly. “It’s going to be great to see the boy again. I hauled asteroids for that overgrown human at Haraken.”
“Wait one, Captain,” Durly replied. Before he could ask his first mate, Tilda Hennessey, she spooled the freighter’s load list up on a screen and highlighted several lines, which were marked by an “M” in a column. “Yep, Captain. We’ve got the designations. Have to break open a few modules for Rainmaker. He’s got some mighty big pieces, an ore excavator, processing equipment, and compressed liquid tanks, to name a few.”
“And to you, Captain Cordelia,” Durly replied, signing off.
“Wow,” Tildie said quietly, “a feminine captain of a great city-ship. You have to admire Alex Racine. He breaks so many entrenched rules.”
“You know Cordelia is a SADE, not a woman, right?” Durly offered.
“Your gray hairs are fouling your translations, Captain,” Tildie teased. “I said feminine, not female. You’re going to have to adapt to modern language.”
“I’m too old to adapt, Tildie,” Durly grumbled good-naturedly, and Tildie laughed softly.
Durly smiled to himself. Despite being a heavy worlder like him, Tildie had a light, pleasant laugh.
Just when life dealt Durly two harsh blows, losing his wife and job in the same year, fortune smiled on him. He applied for immigration papers to the new world of Haraken, deciding he wasn’t done flying. He figured Haraken would turn him down, but, surprisingly, he was accepted, considering his age a sign of experience.
Meeting Little Ben was another break for Durly, and he went to work for the first employer he ever liked. Years later, he was in business with two other aging pilots, owning a Méridien freighter older than they were. Three years into operation, one partner, who was also the first mate, died, and the other chose to stay planetside on Haraken.
So Durly was camped out in a small, cramped office on Haraken, interviewing applicants for the first mate position when in walked Tildie Hennessey. Durly had liked the young woman right off. She had a no-nonsense manner, excellent credentials despite her youth, and he loved her laugh.
Durly was about to offer the job to Tildie, when she said, “I need to let you know, Captain, that I’m looking for a ship that has two berths to fill.”
“As a matter of fact, I do have another position to fill,” Durly said. “It’s the load manager’s position. I suppose you know the requirements.”
“I do, Captain, and I’ve got the perfect candidate for you. An ex-Méridien who managed freight and shipping for House O’Shea. You interested?”
“Of course, I’m interested, if we can afford him.”
“Trust me, you can.”
“When can you bring him by?” Durly asked. He saw Tildie blink twice and realized she was wrestling with the sending of a comm. A slender and striking brunette, whose smile lit the room, walked through his door.
“Greetings, Captain Pederson, I’m Millicent Vane, and, as you can see, I’m not a ‘he.’”
“Apologies, miss,” Durly replied, “old habits.”
“I promise not to hold that against you, Captain,” Millicent replied, and her gentle laugh made Durly feel awkward and forty years younger.
It didn’t take Durly long to realize that Millicent was overqualified for the job.
“Ser Vane,” Durly said formally, “while I would love to have you aboard, I’m afraid our struggling little freight company can’t afford someone with your experience.”
“Well, Captain, let’s see if you and I can reach an accommodation.”
After two hours of conversation and a review of the company’s shipping logs, Durly was convinced that Millicent, with her experience, could help them run a more efficient operation and realize a significant increase in income for the company. The job interview ended with Durly hiring both women and granting Millicent a share of increased company profits to offset her mediocre salary.
“I still don’t know why you’d want to work for a one-freighter outfit like ours, Ser Vane,” Durly said, as the women stood to leave.
“Please, Captain, feel free to call me Millie. My friends do. And, as to why your freighter, Captain, it’ll have its benefits,” Millie replied, and slipped an arm around Tildie’s waist.
“Oh,” Durly replied. Belatedly, he realized that they were what people called H2 couples, referring to a hydrogen atom’s oversized proton compared to its tiny electron. The most famous of the H2 couples were Alex and Renée, Tatia and Alain, Mickey and Pia, and Ben and Simone.
Sitting on the bridge of the freighter, as they made their entry into the Celus system, Durly smiled, recalling the interview and his slow uptake on Tildie and Millie’s relationship. Best damn hires I ever made, he thought. Tildie might well have been the acting captain with all the work she contributed, and, with Millie’s help, Durly and his partner were envisioning buying a second freighter. Retire, hah, Durly thought and considered sending a message to his old New Terran boss, who had laid him off to hire a younger pilot not soon after his dismissal.
“New course awaiting your approval,” Tildie said, prompting Durly out of his musings.
Durly checked the figures and concurred. Then Tildie signaled the controller to shift its vector toward Celus-6.
“You have the bridge, Tildie. Good night,” Durly said. He was in the bridge accessway when he passed Millie, who gave him her usual smile. She would keep Tildie company before the women turned in and passed the bridge duties to the third mate.
“Afraid we’re splitting the load, Millie, making a stop at Celus-6 before Celus -5,” Durly explained.
“Not to worry, Captain, I reviewed the mix of equipment and figured that we’d hit a moon base before the planet and packed accordingly.”
“Of course, you did, Millie,” Durly said, smiling. He whistled as he made his way to his cabin.
* * *
It had been obvious to Alex and everyone that Ben Diaz’s mining operations would only go so far in completing the projects Alex started. Even with the GEN machines, which were built to upgrade New Terran technology to produce Méridien tech and were operating in a Freedom bay, there were supplies, such as power cells, food stock processors, and other sundry items, which the Omnians wouldn’t be capable of producing for a while.
The obvious decision was to order the necessary materials from Haraken, but the question for Alex was how to pay for them. He had no desire to work through a bank and strap Omnia Ships with more contractual ties. Instead, Alex decided to personally loan Omnia Ships 20M credits, the transfer of which Julien immediately noticed.
Alex’s next concern was how best to spend the funds, and his answer was to offload the problem to Mickey.
“Mickey, I need you to work with Ben, Miriam, Trixie, and Claude to create a list of needed equipment, spare parts, and finished materials for our projects. You have 20M in credits to spend and that includes delivery. The invoicing will be against Omnia Ships. Prioritize the requirements in this order: Ben, Dischnya housing, the travelers, the city, and, last, the orbital.”
“Alex, there are other fund sources,” Mickey replied. “Mine, for example. I could lend Omnia Ships many more credits than that.”
“Work up your needs list, Mickey, and let me know if the 20M is falling short. Then we’ll talk.”
When Mickey finished compiling the wish lists, he had to laugh at his presumptiveness. He’d asked his compatriots to separate their lists into two categories: materials required in the next six months to continue work and items required for the year following those six months.
The immediate requirements from everyone totaled 18M credits, but the following year’s requirements totaled an astounding 239M credits. Mickey paled when Cordelia sent him the cost summaries for the two lists.
“Alex, I might have underestimated the extent of these project costs,” Mickey reported, taking a moment to explain what he’d done and Cordelia’s estimates.
“Well, Mickey, after further consideration, I think I’ll take you up on your offer. Let me know when you’ve transferred the 237M credits into Omnia Ships and thanks for your contribution.”
“Black space, Alex. Tell me you’re kidding,” Mickey replied, aghast at the thought of transferring his entire fortune to the company.
Alex’s poker face held for a few moments longer, and then he broke into laughter. “Do you actually have the funds, Mickey?” he asked.
“Maybe half of it,” Mickey admitted, and that wiped the smile off Alex’s face.
“Seriously, Mickey?”
Mickey shrugged his shoulders, as if apologizing for having accumulated so much wealth.
“Who knew engineering paid so well?” Alex pondered, sitting back in his chair rather dumbfounded.
“Engineering doesn’t pay all that well, by itself, Alex. It’s the inventive engineering necessary to accommodate your requests that make the fortunes.”
“Well, your research into our equipment needs did teach us something critical, Mickey. We’re going to hit the wall in about six months, just when we need more specialized materials. On top of that, our supply chain is a great deal longer than our credit flow. Haraken will start delivering travelers to customers about six months after we deliver the shells, and we can’t even order supplies until we receive the credits from about four months’ worth of their deliveries.”
“So, are you saying, Alex, that we’re going to have our people sitting on their hands for nearly a year once this load of supplies is used up?”
“Yes, unless we can come up with a better plan.”
“Maybe we do need to borrow.”
“Not yet. But now that I know the materials shortfall, I have a better idea of the bargain we need to strike.”
“With our New Terran guests?” Mickey asked, and Alex and he shared grins.
* * *
Captain Pederson stationed the Dark 10 kilometers away from the Freedom, as Captain Cordelia directed. They’d made good time offloading the supplies for Ben Diaz and making Celus-5 or, as they’d learned, Omnia.
The Dark’s enormous freighting modules needed to be opened and the individual containers ferried to the Freedom for unpacking. Only Ben had the massive handling equipment to empty the modules directly from the freighter and distribute the containers to the mining locations. The job of emptying the Dark fell to the Freedom’s crew. It was standard procedure. The freighters arrived with cargo, and the customer was responsible for offloading the goods.
The procedure to empty the Dark would take at least three days. Everything the freighter carried had been destined for one customer, Alex Racine. The Dark’s crew had been pressed to load in at Haraken and hurry to their destination. A delivery bonus was on the line, and they’d earned it. Now, with some down time available, the small crew was anxious to see the planet and the renowned and refitted Freedom.
“Captain Cordelia, this is Captain Pederson. I have with me First Mate Tilda Hennessey,” Durly said over his bridge’s comm pickup.
“The crew wants a little time planetside, if that’s permitted?” Durly asked.
“Thank you for the invite, Captain,” Tildie replied. “I understand there are aliens on planet. Do we have permission to visit with them?”
“Crystal clear, Captain. I thank you for the directions and appreciate the invitation to the fête.” Durly closed the comm and regarded Tildie, who’d pushed for permission to see the aliens.
“Don’t look at me like that, Captain. There was no harm in making a simple request, and she said no,” Tildie replied, unhappy about the missed opportunity.
“Tildie, you’re in charge of the crew while you’re planetside. I need you to keep a level head on your shoulders and keep them in line. You’re a good bunch of people, some of the best I’ve worked with, and I don’t need one or more of you eaten alive by that planet down there. Am I clear?”
“Wow, corporal discipline before the error is even committed,” Tildie said. When Durly drew breath to speak, Tildie waved him off. “Hey, warning understood, Captain. I’ll keep the boys and girls in line and bring them back safely. Besides, Millie and I are more interested in attending that fête. You’re going, aren’t you?”
* * *
After a light evening meal, Durly retired to his cabin and pulled out his best captain’s uniform. Tildie and Millie had convinced him to join them for the fête aboard the Freedom. At his age, Durly had long since
stopped attending parties, but Millie’s logic was convincing.
“Captain, is the company intent on seeking more business from Omnia Ships?” Millie had asked.
“Another contract would be wonderful,” Durly replied, “especially if it offers an opportunity to earn an early delivery bonus.”
“Well, Captain, the people we need to influence will be at the fête this evening, and you have the perfect asset.”
Before Durly could guess the nature of his asset, Millie leaned against Tilda and smiled.
“Oh, of course, the hydrogen couple,” Durly said without thinking.
The women laughed at Durly’s response, and the captain felt the back of his neck warming.
“We use what we have, Captain,” Tildie replied.” We’re a single-ship company, and if I’m going to make captain, then we need a second freighter.”
“So, don your best uniform, Captain, and meet us on the flight deck at 19.45 hours,” Millie added.
At the appointed time, Durly joined the crew, who were already aboard the freighter’s single traveler, waiting in the Dark’s tiny bay.
The entire crew wanted to attend the evening’s festivities, but someone had to remain aboard. The third mate lost a quick game of selection, but the crew chipped in some credits to make the young Haraken feel better about missing out.
Tildie had the traveler’s pilot chair, and she quickly and efficiently had them soon landing aboard the Freedom.
“Black space,” Durly muttered, as he descended into the cavernous bay, which held two other travelers and could have held three more.
“And think, Captain,” Millie said. “One man owns two of these colossal ships.”
“I don’t compute that,” Tildie said. “From everything, I’ve ever heard, Alex Racine never chased credits. So how did he accumulate the wealth necessary to buy these city-ships?”