The Sculpted Ship

by K. M. O'Brien

  “So, what do you think?”

  She restrained herself, but inside, Anailu was bouncing up and down. Only paying for fuel, not so cool, but a chance at a big ongoing contract? Very cool. So, Anailu played it totally cool. “I like your plan. When do you want to work out the details?”

  Mr. Torrell nodded approvingly. “We're preparing to depart, so I'm busy right now, but I'll be in touch with you in a few days, after this jaunt winds down.” He put out his hand. “Good to meet you, Captain Xindar.”

  “You too, Mr. Torrell.”

  Two weeks later, Anailu flew to the Torrells' base of operations, which was on the same main island of the Lightness as the resort. It was substantial enough to have its own landing pads and hangars. Mr. Torrell later explained that some voyageurs flew in from one of the starports, some landed directly at his base, and some went to the resort either before or after the expedition.

  Anailu arrived the day before the outing, to allow time for loading of equipment and supplies. Using Anailu's ship for the company trip also allowed the Torrells time before the next expedition to get their main airship overhauled at Doran City.

  When the Queen arrived, the first to come aboard was Chef Cabirla and his staff, there to examine the galley. Anailu thought she'd done a good job of cleaning the galley and its contents, but the Chef was not satisfied; his staff seemed to be cleaning everything as they inspected it. The pots, pans, and various galley equipment was another odd thing that had been left untouched, though the dishes and utensils were gone. That wasn't surprising – On most luxury ships, utensils were marked with the name of the ship, and the dishes were often a custom pattern specific to the ship. When someone went to the trouble of denaming the ship, all those would have been removed as part of that process.

  The next task was loading equipment for the trip, starting with expandable quarters, which were then set up in Cargo Bay 3, located just forward of the entry area. With the Torrells, their staff, and their families, there were a lot more people coming aboard than would fit in the Queen's cabins. A few people were staying in the staterooms, but Mrs. Torrell set up the room assignments. Since they were larger and nicer, the crew cabins on the upper deck would be occupied by Mr. Torrell with his wife, as well as other senior staff with their families. Cargo Bay 2 held supplies, and Cargo Bay 1 held two aircars as well as a number of small airskimmers built for two.

  Anailu kept an eye on the loading process – just like they didn't know her, she didn't know how careful they would be – but the Queen's sophisticated loading system made it easy. Anailu quickly saw that the Torrells' people were efficient and professional. While they were loading, one of the younger staffers stomped his boot on the cargo bay decking. “This is for sure the most solid deck I've ever stepped on. Maybe those Telani built it to carry some rich guy's stacks of gold?” That got a big laugh.

  In the morning, the doctor and his staff set up in one of the quarters set up in Bay 3, by the hatch into the entry area. The Queen's medbay – still wouldn't be officially usable until it was checked by a certified medical equipment technician. It was another cost that Anailu had deferred. The only medical equipment she'd spent money on was the standard minimum medical kit required for any ship. The doctor looked over the medbay and confirmed that contained an impressive array of equipment. He said that once it was fully operational (and certified), it would be capable of better emergency medical care than most local clinics – and with the right staff, it would be at least equal to the medical facility on the Torrells' own airship. For this weekend, though, he was using the simple (certified) portable clinic he'd set up in Bay 3.

  With the ship loaded and the cooks settled in to work, Anailu had run out of things to watch over aboard the Queen, so she accepted Mr. Torrell's offer of an excursion on one of their submersibles, along with some families who had also arrived early.

  This would be the longest period she'd been off the ship since she had purchased her. It still worried her a little, but the Queen had excellent security and monitoring. She locked out all the sensitive areas like Engineering and bridge, just to be sure.

  The submersible was designed for sightseeing, with a single compartment surrounded by big, curved transparencies. There were powerful arrays of lights mounted outside on both sides. They boarded aft, all the passengers taking their seats. As the pilot sealed the hatch and came aboard, the little girl seated across from Anailu announced, “Hi, I'm Simta. My daddy is the captain of this ship. What do your mommy and daddy do?”

  Anailu didn't have much experience with children, and she wasn't sure what to say to that. As she tried to work out how to reply, the pilot came to her rescue. “Sorry, my little Simta is very curious.” Turning to his daughter, he said, “Simta, this lady is the captain of that big ship we saw when we flew in. Maybe you can talk to her later, but for now, go sit with Mommy, OK?” Simta's eyes went wide as the pilot turned back to Anailu. “Ma'am, I'm operating alone today, so would you mind coming forward and taking the co-pilot position for me? I'm Jimlo Partheson, by the way.” He extended his hand.

  Anailu, relieved, nodded. “Nice to met you, Captain Partheson. I've never piloted a sub, but I'd be happy to ride along.”

  The pilot led her forward to the controls. Once they were seated, he got on the loudspeaker and gave a short talk. Then he headed out from the dock. When they were underway and submerging, he quietly said, “My girl Simta is very curious. As you might guess, she's taken plenty of trips aboard my little boat, so if I'd left you back there, she would have been talking to you the whole trip.

  Anailu glanced back at Simta. “Thanks for the save. She seems like a nice kid.” She paused, thinking. “I guess I'll have to get used to that sort of thing if I'm working with your boss much.”

  Jimlo gave a short laugh. “Less than you think. Folks who vacation with their families usually go to companies that specialize in that. Most of the high class Core-worlders we cater to don't often bring their kids with them on vacation. Any of them that do come along have their own nannies. Just another reason I'm happy to be from Doran instead of the Core.”

  The rest of the excursion was uneventful. The sights were interesting, though, with a good view forward. Anailu was reminded that Dove-class ships were supposed to have high-pressure environment capability, but until she could replace all the gaskets, she wouldn't be testing that. Today though, thinking about how many of her ship's systems needed fixing reminded her how far away her goal was. That started to depress her, so she quit thinking about it and focused on the scenery.

  They came back to a lunch prepared by the chef. It was a little strange for Anailu, both because it came from the Queen's galley, and because she'd been living off cheap food made in the Queen's automated food preparation system. The chef had some complaints for Anailu about some of the galley equipment being non-functional. She apologized, but she hadn't worked on that equipment because she didn't use the galley. The only “galley” equipment she had cared about was the autoprep.

  After the lunch, Mr. Torrell gave her a full tour of their base. When he was showing her the food storage, she mentioned Chef Cabirla's complaint, Mr. Torrell laughed. “He'd probably have complaints about your equipment even if it was straight from the factory. Don't worry about it. He made lunch in your galley, right? So he's at least OK with it.”

  At the end of the tour, Mr. Torrell took her to meet Mrs. Torrell. That turned out to be an hour long interview. At first glance, she seemed like a sweet grandmotherly type, but by the end, Anailu could understand why Mrs. Torrell was definitely an equal partner with Mr. Torrell.

  By late in the afternoon, the rest of the staff and their families had arrived, and all their luggage was aboard. Everyone gathered at the landing pad beside the Queen. Mr. Torrell gave a short speech from the ramp of the Queen, with Anailu standing on one side, and Mrs. Torrell on the other side. He welcomed everyone and then introduced Anailu to everyone. It was the most people she'd stood in front of since leadershi
p training, back in the Cadet Academy, but she survived the experience, even giving them a short greeting, welcoming everyone aboard her ship.

  Once everyone was aboard and seated – some in the upper deck lounge, the rest in jump seating along the cargo bay walls – they took off for their destination, the Arch Falls, one of the 'Wonders of Doran.' Chef Cabirla served them dinner during the flight.

  The Arch Falls was a high waterfall which fell down over and under several nested stone arches. It appeared to be the work of an ancient civilization, but there was no evidence of who the builders had been. When the Queen arrived, she landed in a grassy field on the bottom land where the river curved. It was a half-kilometer from the bottom of the falls, and the view was spectacular. The only setup required was tents for those people who were staying outside the ship. For everyone else, it was chairs and drinks, or running about for the children. It was a pleasant evening.

  The next day dawned pleasantly, with breakfast prepared by the spouses of Torrell's employees. This was intended to give Chef Cabirla and his staff a break, but somehow the chef was still a big part of making breakfast.

  The rest of the morning was set aside for hikes, aircar excursions to the falls, relaxation and games for the children. Anailu stayed near the ship, except for an aircar trip to view the falls. She did give a couple tours, as some of the vacationers were, interested in learning about the Queen. The lunch was handled by the spouses, again with Cabirla's assistance. By the afternoon, Anailu was ready for a break from all the people, so she hid out in the starboard drive access and took care of some maintenance chores.

  The evening dinner was prepared by Cabirla and his staff. It was an informal dinner, with the tables were set up out in the warm evening, under the curve of the ship's bow. Anailu was seated at the head table, with the senior staff. The farthest table was for the younger children. When everyone was seated, Mr. Torrell gave a very nice speech, thanking everyone for doing such an excellent job for the previous year and looking forward to an even better year to come. Then the food was served. While everyone at the table was informal and friendly, Anailu wasn't sure how much to reciprocate. She felt like this was another test.

  The next morning, breakfast was again prepared by the spouses, and then they loaded everything back up and headed back to the Torrells' base. When they got there, most of the families left, and the equipment was unloaded from the Queen. Once everything was out and cleaned up, Mr. Torrell and his wife invited Anailu into his office for a talk. The office had many pictures of the Torrells with former guests, some so famous that Anailu recognized them. Once everyone was seated, Mr. Torrell got straight to the point.

  “Captain Xindar, now that we know you a little better, we've decided we want to work with you. Your ship is everything we hoped for and the staff likes you. But first, are you still interested in working with us?”

  “Absolutely!'”

  “I'm glad to hear that. The first expedition we will need you for is scheduled four weeks from now. Before we are willing to charter your ship, though, there are a few final issues we need you to take care of.

  “First, you need to be comfortable interacting with my guests at formal events. You are the captain of a starship. In addition, you are the owner of a ship of quality. If I didn't invite you to formal affairs, I would appear rude.

  “The full functionality of your starship does not matter. It is an Imperially registered starship of recognizable quality, and you are its Imperially licensed Master. Together, that implies a certain status. If you were just the a captain of an airship, you would not necessarily have the status for me to invite you as a guest at formal dinners.

  “But if you participate in a formal dinner with my guests, you have to be able to interact with them politely. Mrs. Torrell says you don't have experience with that, so you will have to complete etiquette training. I don't expect you to be fully trained immediately, but I expect you to have at least the basics before you go out with us. You'll want to get started on that right away. I will give you a list of reputable instructors, both here and in Doran City, that can teach you. I'd recommend the instructors here in the Lightness, because they charge more reasonable prices than in the City, and I've worked with them before, so they know what I expect.

  “Second, you'll need a fashionable, custom-designed dress uniform. I know that's expensive, and it shouldn't be necessary, but some of our clients will expect your attire to match up the prestige of your ship – and to their own.

  “There's really only one place to get that here on Doran, and that's through Tombes & Tollas. Speaking of them, that's the only place on Doran to get credential cards, which is another item you will need.

  “The rest of the list is ship equipment, starting with the bedding in your staterooms. It's high quality, but it's old. The smell reminds me of staying at my grandmother's house as a child. You need new bedding of equal quality.

  “Medical. You need to get your medbay checked out and fully operational. I know that's a lot of money for something that hopefully won't be used; but even if I have an equivalent facility on my airship, it doesn't look good if your medbay has an out-of-order sign on it. My guests expect everything to be perfect. I will compensate you for “provision of emergency medical facilities,” so you don't have to worry about doing it for free. I'm also including a contingency clause for patient transport, since you could take them to Doran City faster than any of my airships equipped for medevac.

  “Communications. You must have a full capability communications suite, including support for top grade encryption. Even if you only have staffers staying on your ship, I guarantee they will require the same level of privacy as their boss when they're handling the boss' affairs.

  “And finally, the galley. We don't plan to ask you to host any formal dinners, so you don't need custom ship dishes; but you will still need quality silverware, dishes, and glasses for room service to the guests you'll have aboard.

  “And that's it. Not so bad, really.”

  Anailu's heart had sunk with the mention of custom-designed uniforms. By the end, she stopped even trying to tally up the costs, because she knew she could only afford a fraction of it.

  Mr. Torrell wasn't entirely finished, though. “I know that's a lot of up-front costs, so I'm willing to give you an advance that I calculate will cover those costs, with a little to spare. Also, we'll structure your repayment so that you'll still be compensated for per-trip costs, such as fuel, before paying back the advance. I know that may mean you won't clear a profit for some time; but if you accept my deal, then by this time next year, I predict we'll both be sitting in this office smiling about a good, profitable year.”

  Chapter 8: For Science!

  Almost in shock, Anailu had agreed to Mr. Torrell's terms, and now the weighty advance was in her ship account. Most places on Doran – at least those that didn't cater to tourists – shut down for the weekend. First thing Monday morning, Anailu started spending money. She chose an etiquette instructor named Miss Prithers: mostly because of the sound of her name, but also because she was a woman. She was available for training that very morning, so Anailu signed up.

  Anailu was focused on surviving a formal dinner, but she quickly learned it would be more complicated than that. Miss Prithers laid out the training schedule for the next week. She would spend this whole morning working with Anailu on just posture and demeanor. Miss Prithers said those were a fundamental prerequisite for all her other courses. Anailu hadn't expected it to be this complicated. Her new schedule included several sessions just to cover polite conversation, starting with "The Basics of Formal Greetings."

  Even though Miss Prither's training schedule was more involved than Anailu had expected, she wouldn't have to worry about rushing to get it all done immediately. The final test would be a full-scale formal dinner, hosted by Miss Prithers, with the attendees (other students) in proper formal dinner attire. Since Miss Prithers decided that Anailu would wear her dress uniform for the final
test, Anailu decided not to worry about the test until she actually had that new uniform.

  After the first morning of etiquette lessons, Anailu was ready for a break. She couldn't rest, though – she had the rest of the Torrells' requirements to work on. She knew the medbay certification would take both time and money, so getting that set up was next. First, she needed a specialist, and a good one, since the Queen's medbay equipment was pretty high end. Of all the companies on Doran that specialized in shipboard medical gear, only one could handle it all, so she flew to their location at the Doran City starport. By the time she got there, it was late in the day, but they were still working. Some of their technicians immediately began removing the equipment from her medbay. It needed to be repaired, calibrated, and tested on specialized equipment, so the work was expected to take several days.

  While they were busy, she received an unexpected call from a Professor Untsala, a researcher at Doran University. “I've been told you have a starship with zeroed inertial dampers, and available for charter in atmosphere here on Doran. Is my information correct?”

  Any ships capable of high-g acceleration had inertial dampers, so that the contents of the ship, especially people, were not affected by the ship's acceleration. In other words, they kept you from being crushed by gee-forces. However, most inertial dampers had a slight lag. This meant that people on the ship would feel a little of the acceleration, deceleration, or other changes in the movement of the ship. A zeroed inertial damper went further, ensuring that pretty much any changes in the motion of the ship were undetectable.

  “Yes, my ship is a Dove-class vessel, equipped with zeroed inertial dampers, and they are functioning within calibrated tolerances. Last time I checked, they were showing stability out to seven zeroes.”

  “Hmm. I might be interested in chartering your ship, but I am curious why your listed charter price is so low for a starship.”