First Principles: Samair in Argos: Book 3

by KOTCHER, MICHAEL

  The lawyers were already out in force, doing their best to try and squash this. Tamara had unleashed them and informed them that in no uncertain terms that it was their jobs to get out there and earn the very large retainers that she was paying them. They were in contact with the press and with the government over this incident, but so far there was no further movement on this issue for government takeover, no further public statements, and no backdoor overtures either. The admin council was still working on what exactly their response to this was going to be, and until then, Tamara needed to make sure her own procedures were ready when they finally did.

  Tamara made a few notations in her pad and then readied it in a communiqué she was going to send to the lawyers. Full compensation and death benefits were going to be paid out to the families of the deceased and all medical costs were going to be paid for those injured. The lupusan AI as well as the safety inspection people were going over that ship, as well as the others, with the finest grain scanners that they could, looking at every piece of equipment, every weld, every pane of armorglass, to make sure this sort of thing didn’t happen again. She also made a note that every single replicator currently in use by the company (not including the numerous A2s that had been leased) was to have a full tear down and a 30, 60, 90 day maintenance performed. There were not going to be any shoddy materials or equipment being built by this company. Nasir was going to be reviewing the software for all of those devices as well, wanting to make sure no glitches had formed.

  Tamara was determined that there would be no weak links in the chain.

  It took five days to get things straightened out. Five days of answering calls from the admin council, demanding updates, demanding oversight, demanding to be heard. Tamara answered each and every call, was forceful in some situations and deferential in others, but she absolutely refused to be bullied. From the tone of the calls, it seemed that the council still had not come to a decision as to what they wanted. Oh they were yelling quite a lot, making threats, demanding that FP answer for all of this, but nothing definitive. Tamara had gotten word from her attorneys that the council was split on whether to try and move on FP’s facilities. There was a small minority, only three votes that wanted to try and take over, the rest were still against. Not because they didn’t want more control over the yard and the building facilities, but they were concerned that Samair might do something drastic if they tried to get them. If they gave her an ultimatum and she defied them, even if the press did what they could to try and blacken her image, there would be large public sentiment that she was a hero who stood up to the establishment, there always was. The last thing the government wanted was for her to be a martyr, even if she wouldn’t be dead.

  “Things are getting moving again,” Nasir reported, appearing on one of the displays facing the armorglass ports. “I’m pleased to announce that the new safety procedures are being followed and for now, the pace has only been slowed by about five percent.”

  Tamara nodded. It was inevitable, she supposed, that an increase in safety would mean a decrease in productivity, at least at first. Once her crews got themselves acclimated, hopefully speed would increase. As it was, Persistence of Vision was at about 85% completion, needing only some internal systems and her weapons to be installed and integrated. Technically, the ship didn’t actually need to be in the construction slip; the work could be done out in space with the ship running under its own power, but no one seriously was considering that. Tamara had been recruiting like mad, getting enough people here and running them through her small training facility at the yard so that once the ship was ready to turn over, her crew would be ready. Of course, those crews would be greener than green, and would take quite a bit of working up before they would actually be ready for any serious operations, but at least the ships would be out in space and flying. Mondragon would be returning with Grania Estelle in a few weeks and Tamara knew that even the small amount of experience Leicasitaj and his people had gained in that trip would be a great help in educating the new warship crews.

  Work on the other destroyers had picked back up again as well. They were all about sixty percent completed, with a few more weeks of work to get them operational. The first of the payment vouchers had been received from the government, despite all the squabbling from the admin council. They had delayed sending that first payment, probably just to see how she would respond, but it appeared that they finally decided that they didn’t want to get her all riled up about it. She had, however, sent Kozen’ck a scathing communiqué (and copied the rest of the council on it) indicating that if payment didn’t arrive right away for the months that were due, then she would video the teardown of all of the hulls she had been building for them, and send a copy of that vid, along with a full disclosure exclusive to every news agency in the system, condemning them as blowhards and liars, people who would break contracts. That most likely was what had lit a fire under them. The vouchers arrived the very next day.

  The FP patrol vessels in the system, Maitland as well as her new sister ships Eridain and Angara, were moving around the Kutok mine and the asteroid mining station. They kept on a regular patrol route, making sure that both installations were covered at all times. One of the three would rotate between them every few days, allowing the crews of the three corvettes some new scenery. War games and exercises were held once a week, pitting two of the ships against each other, and on the second week, Commander Korqath sent his Aplora squadron out to sortie with them, much to the shock of both ships involved. The whole war game turned into an absolute disaster with the final tally of Angara “destroyed”, Maitland “disabled” and eighteen of the Aploras out of the fight. Korqath’s fighter received enough simulated damage that had this been a real battle, he would have been the nineteenth casualty of his squadron.

  But the captains of the ships, as well as Tamara were pleased with the action, knowing that a lot more training would be needed. The crews and officers were pleased that the bosses hadn’t been angry at the utter catastrophe this exercise had turned into. They all knew that there was a lot of work ahead of them, but surprisingly, they looked forward to the challenge. Knowing that they still held their officers’ confidence, knowing that they had tried their best, fought their ships to the very last made the failure a bit more bearable. There was something strangely uplifting about this exercising. They all felt as though they were part of a team now, a true fleet (small as it was) instead of simply a collection of ships.

  Which was exactly what the officers and commanders were hoping for. Further exercises would try to capitalize on that. With the second escort frigate Tsesudo having completed her builders’ trials and shakedown cruise, she had taken up a wide orbit patrol around the Lagrange Point as well as the yard complex. The third squadron of Zlk’vzn fighters, calling themselves the Twin Novas (because their lead pilot believed that only getting caught between a pair of supernovas could take his pilots down) had taken up residence in the expanded hangar at the yard. They too were flying Combat Space Patrol around the yard complex, flying in pairs of two, no more than six fighters out at a time, except for during combat exercises.

  Things were starting to look downright civilized and protected, what with the ships and fighters and space industry. There was a lot going on and it seemed that the people were happy. Not just the workers or FP’s employees, but the actual population of the system. Tamara didn’t go and walk the streets of the various cities, but from the stories she heard from passing technicians, speaking about home, or from Nasir’s daily reports, she could tell that at least some of the malaise was lifting from the people of this star system. The ones that were working, at least, genuinely seemed to want to be working. They weren’t slackers or layabouts, they were productive and happy. Oh, there were a few like that, but Sterling and Nasir kept a close eye to see they were adequately covered, to make sure that their energies were properly focused.

  In system trading was starting to pick up as well. The promenade and commercial
sector on the Kutok mine was up and running, and small shops had started to fill in the open areas; a food court, clothing stores, appliance outlets, entertainment vid-theaters, even a few sports arenas. All of those shops needed goods, and those goods had to come from somewhere. There were small businesses on the planet that supplied things, foodstuffs, athletic equipment, as well as the various items the shops would sell and a market was born. Company Testudo cargo ships made trips back and forth to both the yard complex and the habitable world. But other ships were coming up out of the atmosphere of that world as well.

  Galina Korneyev entered Tamara’s small office and sat down. “Well, Tamara, how are we holding up?”

  Tamara glanced up at her and smiled, making sure that she did so without flashing any teeth. Galina had been working with humans long enough not to misinterpret the teeth, humans often showed teeth when they smiled. Lupusan, as well as other predatory species, tended to interpret that as a gesture of threat. But Tamara tried to be courteous to her lupusan colleagues whenever she could. It was something that was noticed and appreciated. “Well, I think our time as the only company out in the cold of space is coming to an end. There are several companies building ships and shuttles out now; nothing hyperdrive capable, but still, there’s a lot of industry up here in space that the locals are starting to get a grasp on. Even if right now all they’re doing is working within the parameters FP has already set, the ones that move quick enough are going to make a lot of money.” She smiled more broadly, working hard to keep it non-threatening.

  “Working within our parameters?” Galina asked.

  “You know, supplying the businesses on the Kutok mine, supplying transit services to and from the planet.”

  The lupusan nodded. “Yes, I heard about that. A passenger liner service?”

  “It’s pretty big,” Tamara nodded. “I heard they can take something like two hundred passengers at a time. Cabins aren’t that big, but I hear that the lounges are nice.”

  Galina huffed out a chuckle. “You thinking of taking a ride in one?”

  “No. I have my own ship for that sort of thing, thank you very much.” She grimaced. “I’m sure it’s nice, but my guards are paranoid enough. I don’t think they’d appreciate me being on a ship with two hundred potential threats, with no way out.”

  “No probably not,” she admitted. “But you’re thinking this is a good thing, aren’t you?”

  “I am. While it’s been great so far, being the only game in town, I’ve never been big on monopolies,” Tamara replied. “I mean, like I said, it’s been great, but I like having more people in the pool. Leads to more ideas, competition, new innovations.”

  “Even if that means they eventually overshadow us?” Galina asked, ears flicking.

  “I don’t intend to stagnate,” Tamara said firmly. “Once these warships are done, I’m going to start looking into doing more. And I think,” she hesitated.

  “You think…” Galina prompted, clearly interested.

  “I think it’s time that you got to travel a bit,” Tamara said. “I know you’ve wanted to be doing more for the company, and I’ve certainly appreciated your help, but I think it’s time to get Samarkand out building again.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Galina said, nodding. “Where did you want to send us?”

  “I’ll be staying here, setting up shop either on Moxie-2 or over in the yard. Eretria is going to stay here and take up her permanent position in the yard.”

  “Who do you have lined up to take over for her?”

  Tamara pursed her lips. “Kay’grax has been doing well. Nasir and Eretria are rather pleased with his work.”

  “Do you think he’s ready to take the step up? I mean he’s been working for the company for little over a year, okay, sixteen months if you count his time aboard Grania Estelle.”

  “Mmmm.” Tamara tapped her lips with one finger. “No, you’re right, of course. He isn’t really ready to lead the whole engineering gang.” She raised her eyebrows thoughtfully. “He has been doing excellent work leading his own team, though. I’ve been impressed with what I’m seeing, as had Eretria. But I’m not sure I’m comfortable with him running the whole gang. Maybe as shift supervisor.”

  Galina huffed another laugh. “Are you sure? I know he’s going to want to make sure he keeps working on the floor.”

  “Oh, he will. I’m not going to lose him to admin. I can’t stand being away from the construction floor too much myself.”

  “Yes, Tamara, I know.” Galina laughed. The fact that the COO of the biggest company in the star system liked to go out on the construction floor and get her hands dirty with the techs was actually a matter of public record. It also gave her the whole “blue collar” vibe that played well with a lot of the non-government clients. The media didn’t really know how to handle it, truth be told. Some of them thought she was just playing an angle, trying to make herself look marketable, others thought she was not playing at all, but was a blue collar worker who had been given keys to the factory and was just a figurehead. Anyone from the government, with the exception of the engineers on the orbital, despised this side of her, thought this made her “too much of a peasant”. Not that the government people needed any further justifications not to like her. Most of them didn’t like her as it was. And most of them didn’t want to admit how much they did like the amount of jobs or cash she was bringing into the economy, the invigoration of the citizenry, things they were more than happy to take credit for. “Everyone knows.”

  Tamara smiled ruefully. “I’m not going to apologize for that.”

  “Nor should you. You do good work, the crews like working with you, it helps your image.” Galina turned her hands palms up. “And I know you take care of your people, speaking as one of them.”

  “I want everyone to know that they’re looked after,” Tamara replied. Then she nodded. “So long as they’re productive. Work needs to get done.”

  “Of course. We don’t have time to waste on people that won’t pull their own weight.” Galina had little sympathy for deadbeats or anyone just looking for a handout. She would help them if they were sick or injured, and then she’d throw them out. She cocked her head to the side. “You said you wanted to send Samarkand out to do some building. What, exactly?”

  “Well, another of the survey probes picked up some interesting things over on Mautt-6, the sixth moon of the gas giant.” Tamara’s eyes twinkled.

  “Oh?” The lupusan folded her hands in her lap.

  “There are some interesting minerals that they found there. Nothing as interesting as what we found out in the belt, but there’s still quite a bit there that we might want to get a hold of.”

  Her ears flicked. “Interesting how?”’

  “No gadolinium, but some nickel, iron, copper, tin, beryllium, even some gold. I think we might want to get some sort of base set up there.” She smiled. “Never would hurt to have even a small facility there to start to exploit it.”

  “Actually, it might be a good idea to put forth to some investors for this venture.” Galina waved a hand to forestall an argument. “Oh, I’m not saying that FP shouldn’t make our presence known. What I’m saying is that if we can get multiple investors or companies to decide to put forth money or teams or resources, I think we can drum up some real interest in what we’re doing out here.”

  Tamara was nodding slowly. “If the minerals are right, I think we might be able to expand a small mining base into a much bigger and commercial facility. Similar to what we’re doing at the Kutok mine. And that could be bringing some more money opportunities as well. Yes, Galina, that is a good idea. Start making some calls, see if you can drum up some interest. Perhaps you can hint that there are some very lucrative deposits there. Confirm nothing, but see if you can get any of them to draw comparisons to our find in the belt.”

  “You want them to think that we’re going to be finding gadolinium? We can’t tell them that. Besides, there’s no proof at all that the
re is any gadolinium on that moon.” The lupusan looked horrified at the idea.

  “I’m not saying that there is any,” Tamara agreed. “And I’m not saying you should lie. I’m just saying that you should imply that a great deal of valuable minerals are there. It’s true, just probably not to the level the investors might expect. I don’t think we’re going to strike it as rich as we did out in the belt, but I think that we could do some good business out there. Besides, some of those minerals on that moon aren’t available in the belt. At least not where we currently have that station set up.”

  “That’s where the gadolinium is,” Galina pointed out. “And I think we managed to pull quite a lot of other strategic metals out of there. I mean hell, we built all this infrastructure and all those ships with what we’ve gotten so far.”

  Tamara nodded in agreement. “Yeah, but there are a few things on that moon that I believe are worth getting. Some rare trace elements, for starters.”

  “I think we can swing it. We’ll have to start small, build a facility out on that moon, get people suit qualed,” Galina said, starting to tick points off on her long, clawed fingers. “Get enough mining equipment and suits to get a good sized haul. Then we’ll need a few Testudos to haul everything away, or some other cargo ship. Maybe you could get the locals to scrape together funds to get a barge built? We have the Testudos load it up, and then it chugs its way over to the orbital while we start working on the next load.”