First Principles: Samair in Argos: Book 3

by KOTCHER, MICHAEL

  “I understand, my Lord. I will not fail you.”

  “I know that you won’t, Trammen. Now go. You have work to do.” And he cut the connection.

  Gokon’s knees wobbled a bit, but he didn’t fall. A solo assignment to bring an ally to battle? This was the second time he was being given a dangerous assignment and this was the second time that he was being expected to deliver. Him and his very small ship. He had a big flag to carry, as the emissary for Lord Verrikoth, but that flag might not do much to protect him and his ship should the General not feel much in a receiving mood. If he was feeling vengeful, Verrikoth might retaliate but that wouldn’t save Gokon or his crew.

  He slapped his hand on the comm panel. “Bridge.”

  “Kofen here, Trammen.”

  “Get on the horn with supply. The captain has given us a mission and we need to be fully stocked with provisions and fuel.”

  Verrikoth activated the comms, calling the station. The face of his chief engineering officer, another zheen stared back at him from the display. “You promissed me gunsshipss. Where are you on delivering?”

  “We have the first three keels laid,” the engineer replied. “The design is rugged, three laser cannons, decent energy shields. They won’t be able to make a hyperspace jump, though, my Lord.”

  “How long?”

  “We can have these done in ten days. There isn’t a lot to them and we have the parts sitting on the shelves and with those replicators and the Republic techs…” he trailed off, but his happiness was clear. “You give me two weeks and I can have eight of those babies ready to fly.”

  “Two weekss,” Verrikoth repeated, nodding. “Not one hour more. Then we are departing the ssysstem.”

  “Thank you, Lord Verrikoth. But if there’s nothing else, I should get back?”

  “Go.” He stared off at nothing, his thoughts directed inward. Adding eight of the gunships to his order of battle would increase his overall firepower. They weren’t as nimble as starfighters, but their weapon loads were heavier, especially with the external mounted missile racks. Each gunship could carry right Sierra missiles, which could even any odds they might face.

  But his ships had to be on time to meet General Typhon. He would not appreciate tardiness and causing conflict with him would distract from the run on Seylonique. No, his engineers were good and they were motivated. They would make the deadline. He then turned his attention to the next detail that needed sorting out.

  Chapter 24

  “So wait, explain that again.”

  “We had the cargo, we had cleared customs, and were headed out system to the hyper limit,” Lujayne replied. “Then three of their patrol ships made us heave to and they boarded us. Claiming we were carrying contraband, they threatened to shoot us down.”

  Tamara sighed, leaning back in her chair. She had moved her offices to the shipyard complex, leaving the old one open for the new Chief on the Samarkand to use. It had really been unfair to them once the various complexes had been set up, but Tamara had wanted to be there as things were built. But those times were past, now. Setting up at the Yard allowed her to keep a close eye on things as well as be able to make ready reports to investors and various agencies.

  “I’m assuming you weren’t carrying contraband materials of any kind on your ship, Captain?” she asked, sounding tired.

  “Of course not!” Lujayne flared. “I wouldn’t do that! It was my first trip out of the system and I wanted us to make a good impression. We didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “No, I’m sure you didn’t,” Tamara replied, trying to sound soothing. “We’ve had some problems with Ulla-tran in the past, hence the warning to stay clear of the fueling station. But it looks like they were just rattling the saber a bit.”

  “Rattling the saber?” Lujayne demanded, her face flushing. “They shot my Engineer! He got in a struggle with one of them because he was a little slow dialing down the reactor power output to their liking. One of them pushed one of my crew, Ernie tried to stand up for him and they got in a struggle over the gun, with Ernie getting shot by one of the others. I can’t bring my crew back into that!”

  Tamara nodded. “I know. I read your report and Captain Tariq’s. I know how helpless he felt when he had to sit there and allow First Horizon to be boarded.”

  “How helpless he felt?” Lujayne was nearly out of her chair. At a stern look from Tamara, she forced herself to calm down. “Sorry, ma’am. It’s just so frustrating. They bring their ships here and we’ve never given them any hassles, we send one ship there and suddenly we’re smugglers!”

  “Would you consider making another run there?” Tamara asked, looking the newest FP captain straight in the eyes.

  Lujayne hesitated. “I don’t know. I don’t want to go through what we did the last time. It was awful and I’m not sure I could get my crew to go back. I mean our shares were very good, so as far as that is concerned, it was worth it, but having to worry about getting hassled by customs patrols? And members of my crew shot?”

  “I’ll look into it,” Tamara promised.

  “Ma’am,” the other woman replied, anger starting to rise again. “This is a situation that requires more than a simple looking into. If you’re serious about keeping the market in Ulla-tran open then something serious needs to be done.

  “We’ve only just really started with interstellar trade in this system,” Tamara answered, frowning. “But when I tell you that I’m going to look into something, I will. I’m going to figure this out.”

  “I don’t think sending another escort is going to solve the problem, unless all of FP’s warships go along and even then, I don’t think there’s enough hardware to make Ulla-tran be afraid of us.” She shook her head. “And if we show up there in force, they’re just going to think that we’re a bunch of aggressors.”

  Tamara nodded. “All valid points, though I think you’re wrong about sending escorts, as least at first. But let me take a look at our options. I want to see what the government thinks about this.”

  “I thought the government doesn’t like you very much, ma’am,” Lujayne asked, then she winced. “Sorry. I guess that might not be a great topic.”

  She chuckled. “The government likes to complain about what FP is doing because they didn’t have the tech or the drive to do it themselves. But they’re more than happy to take credit for the boost to the economy our services are providing, as well as take a healthy chunk out of the company in taxes. I don’t hear any complaints about that.” She nodded. “I’m going to speak with a few people and see what kind of solution we can come up with.”

  Lujayne hesitated. “Are they going to blame me, ma’am?”

  “Probably. But more likely, they’ll blame me, Queen Bitch of the Spaceways for allowing such a group of fluffy kittens to wander off on their own.” At Lujayne’s indignant look. “Politicians, Captain. I didn’t say that I thought that.”

  She harrumphed. “I should hope not.”

  “I want to continue and even expand trade with Ulla-tran. They have some interesting ideas and components, like that engine you brought back. Eretria’s salivating over that and couldn’t start tearing into it fast enough. You made a great catch there.”

  “Thank you, ma’am.”

  “How’s Ernie? I assume he’s all patched up by now?”

  She nodded. “Yes, ma’am. The sickbay aboard Cavalier was better equipped to handle his injuries than the simple medbox aboard First Horizon. They got him fixed up in a few hours and he was back to duty the next day.”

  Tamara nodded, looking slightly relieved. “I’m glad to hear it. Ernie’s a good man and a good wrench-turner.”

  Lujayne actually smiled. “I’ll tell him you said so, ma’am.”

  Tamara raised a hand. “Please do. I liked his resume and he did good work for us on the Kutok mine before the berth on First Horizon opened up.” Then she put her hand down on the desk. “Well, I’m going to get started on this. How long are you going to be in
the system?”

  “We’re headed out to the orbital in about three hours, ma’am,” Lujayne replied. “We’re going to pick up a cargo and then head out to Bimawae.”

  “I see. Well, take a detour, you, Ernie and your navigator.”

  She blinked. “Where are we going?”

  “To the medical complex.”

  The freighter captain shook her head. “But Ernie’s fine, ma’am, and the doctor aboard Cavalier checked us all out before we even left Ulla-tran.”

  “I’m sure you are,” Tamara replied with a smile. “But that wasn’t why. I want the three of you to be fitted with the level two neuro implants.”

  “Ernie was talking about that,” Lujayne admitted. “Are they really as great as he’s saying?”

  She shrugged. “Well I don’t know what the good Mister Velasquez is saying, but I imagine most of what he says is correct. They’ll help with computer access as well as keeping track of information. You might not think that it’s all that important or necessary, but trust me when I say having them makes things so much easier. All that information is correlated and indexed immediately and is immediately available.”

  “That’s what he’s been saying. I have to say, he’s been turning my head.”

  “Well, Captain Orzo,” Tamara said, smiling at her.

  She flushed again. “Not like that! I’m interested in the neuro implants.”

  “You should head over there now. I’ll send a message to Doctor Kassix and let him know that you’re coming. It’s going to push back your schedule a bit, but trust me, it’s going to be worth it.”

  She chuckled. “All right, ma’am, I’ll take your word for it.”

  “Tamara Samair wants another meeting,” Sebastian Chakrabarti said, coming into Kozen’ck’s office. The compartment was well furnished, opulent, but not overly ostentatious. There was a large amount of holographic art on pedestals displayed tastefully around the room. Various items were displayed: crystalline sculptures, water flows among others. He kept the room softly lit and there were several chairs for guests, as well as a coffee table set off to the side with a couch.

  “Oh?” the zheen councilor asked, not turning his head from the display he was reading.

  “Yes, her message said something about wanting to solidify trade opportunities in Ulla-tran,” he went on, plopping into one of the chairs.

  “Anything specific?” Kozen’ck asked, distracted.

  “Are you even listening?”

  Kozen’ck made an irate buzz. He turned to face the man in his office, though he could see him perfectly well turned slightly away as he had been with his compound eyes. “Yes, I’m listening. But you barge into my office and start acting as though the system is under attack. I know that it isn’t, by the way.”

  “Look, I know that both you and I have made a lot of money off FP,” Chakrabarti said, grinding his teeth. “And I know that Samair has done well by that company and by us and the planetary economy. Who would have thought that an outsider could jump start us as well as she did? As well as they did?”

  “I do have other things I need to be working on, Sebastian,” Kozen’ck retorted. “Yes, Samair has been a valuable asset and probably will continue to be. And we did get those Republic destroyers out of her.”

  “Right. So what does she want now?”

  “Well you’re the one with his finger on the pulse of the system,” Kozen’ck said. “You can’t tell me?”

  “She’s playing it very close to the vest this time,” Sebastian admitted, flipping one hand up in frustration. “Normally she gives some kind of advance warning about what it is that she wants to talk about, but this time, nothing. Just what I already told you that she wants to do something more with Ulla-tran.”

  “We’ve got those three freighters that are going to be leaving the station here in a week,” the zheen mused. “They’re all going to Ulla-tran. If she has something that might make things easier, I’m willing to listen.”

  “And two more from the planet’s surface are coming up as well. One for Ulla-tran and the other for Heb.”

  “With so many ships going to Ulla-tran, I’m now more interested than ever to hear what she has to say.”

  Less than an hour later, Moxie-2 had docked with the station and Tamara and her guards arrived at the Triarch’s office. The four individuals were escorted into the office, but as they did, two of the lupusan peeled off and posted themselves outside the door, alongside the two Marine guards stationed there. The four guards gave each other looks, clearly sizing each other up, but before it could be settled, the doors closed, leaving Tamara and Viktoriya inside with the two council members. The brindled red and brown furred lupusan stepped to the side of the door and adopted a relaxed posture. She scanned the room with eyes, ears and nose, all enhanced with her implants, but she said nothing, made no indication she was even aware of what was going on in the room.

  “It is really necessary that she be in here?” Sebastian complained. “There are Marine guards outside that door.” He pointed.

  “Ms. Eristov and the rest of my guards go everywhere I do,” Tamara told him simply. “And I would think that’s an easy enough concept to understand, Councilor.” The man frowned and out of the corner of Tamara’s eye, she saw Viktoriya’s ears flick in amusement. “I know that lupusan have a reputation for intimidation, but if she’s too scary for you, I can have her step out and one of the others can come in.”

  Chakrabarti scowled and opened his mouth to speak, but Kozen’ck forestalled him. “Tamara, that is beneath you. You came here because you wanted a meeting about Ulla-tran, not to bait Sebastian here.” He gestured her to the other chair and Tamara walked over and sat down. “Now, what is it you wanted to speak about?”

  “Ulla-tran,” she said simply, getting comfortable in the chair and crossing her legs.

  “You’ve said that.”

  “I’m wondering what it would take to set up a permanent trade presence in Ulla-tran.”

  Both councilors looked at each other. “That’s easy,” Sebastian said. “Send more ships and cargoes.”

  “Right, but I don’t want my ships, or yours, harassed by Ulla-tran customs vessels looking to flex their muscles. They boarded one of my ships and shot one of my people.”

  “Well, that’s very sad but I don’t see how it’s our…”

  “And if either of you say that they must have done something to provoke that,” she said, anger clear on her face and in her tone, “I swear to you that you will regret it. You always bitch about my way of doing business, that I’m too much of a loose cannon, I’m a hot dogger, that I’m too aggressive, so hey, I must have encouraged my freighter crews to mouth off to customs inspectors.”

  The two males exchanged a look which gave Tamara all the confirmation she needed. “Oh, you bastards. I did not tell my freight crews to resist inspection teams. They boarded the ship without provocation and when my crew complied they shot one of them to prove a point. I need you to do something about this.”

  “And what exactly would you like us to do, Tamara?” Kozen’ck asked, sounding tired.

  “I want to set up some sort of formal trade arrangement. Something official so that the ships from this system can be protected.”

  “You sent in one of your corvettes as escort, didn’t you?” Chakrabarti asked.

  “Right and that didn’t stop them from attacking my cargo ship.”

  “We have four ships leaving for Ulla-tran in short order,” Kozen’ck said, putting his elbows on the desk and clasped his hands. “I don’t want them going there is there’s going to be a serious problems with the locals. And if something does happen, our cargo ships are not going to want to go there ever again.”

  “That’s a ton of revenue lost,” Chakrabarti said, putting a hand to his forehead. “And that’s a lot of opportunity lost as well. We have people counting on this new market.”

  “Maybe you need to send an ambassador, someone with clout who can make decisions
and speak for the government, and give them enough of a hammer to crack heads if need be.” Tamara gave a one shouldered shrug. “Or at least enough of a threat to make them listen. The governing council at Ulla-tran is probably no different than governments everywhere, but I have no idea. I’ve never met with them.”

  The two councilors looked at each other. “We would need some sort of cake to go with the stick,” Kozen’ck replied.

  “Yes. Something that’s going to make them want to open up dialogues and want to continue sending their ships here.”

  Tamara sighed. “And I suppose you’re going to tell them all about the gadolinium stockpiles I’ve got.”

  “We’ve bought some of it off of you,” Kozen’ck pointed out.

  “At vastly inflated prices,” Chakrabarti grumped.

  “Oh, please, you really want to play the game of who got the better deal? After those prices I let you talk me into for the destroyer deal?” Tamara countered. “But you’re right. If they find out there’s gadolinium to be bought or traded for here, they’ll want to set something up.”

  “They might try to attack us and take it.” The human councilor didn’t like that idea.

  Tamara pulled up information about Ulla-tran defense ships on her implants. The information was ready in a second. “Check your datapad there. I uploaded everything my ships managed to pick up about the defense ships in that system.”

  Kozen’ck linked the datapad to his desk console. A moment later he pulled up the information. “A lot of ships.”

  “Five frigate-sized ships like the ones I have, looks like six or so of the corvettes, and about a dozen gunships. I can’t quite tell what it is they’re building in that shipyard, but it’s a cruiser of some sort.”