The Sculpted Ship

by K. M. O'Brien

  “Yeah, my dad is one of Mrs. Torrell's butlers. I didn't want to say anything to you until I talked to the Professor.” She shrugged. “The Prof likes everything to be his idea, anyway.”

  “It seems like everything is working out OK, so thanks for mentioning the Queen to him.”

  Sandifer spoke up again. “We also wanted to thank you for the food. The last charter didn't provide us anything. But thank you especially the wonderful, wonderful coffee.”

  No food at all? Probably just the difference between an airship and a starship.

  Anailu shrugged. “It was a gift; but I don't drink coffee, so I'm glad you all enjoyed it.”

  Sandifer extended her hand and they shook. “Thank you, Captain.” Then Sandifer left. Each of the other grad students did the same; shook her hand, thanked her, and then left. Anailu was kind of weirded out, but they seemed very sincere.

  As the last of them left, she wondered if they had been thanking her for the coffee, or dealing with Untsala.

  Once everyone had left, she went about ordering a rental aircar and securing the ship. She had plenty to do to if both she and the Queen were going to be ready for the Torrells' guests.

  Chapter 9: Not Just A Lawyer

  Up until now, Anailu had used standard cargo contracts for her transport jobs. Most companies relied on them when dealing with independent captains, anyway. With the Torrells, it was a more complex deal, but she had accepted on their terms because she trusted them.

  When it came to setting up a long term deal with Professor Untsala, though, she wanted a lawyer, and a live one, not just some lawyer-expert-system software. This would mean spending more of the advance she'd gotten from Mr. Torrell, but it was supposed to include more than enough to handle all her required expenses. Anailu figured spending a little money on a lawyer now might save her a lot later, just like spending a little delta-vee early in your trajectory was often way cheaper than spending it making a late course correction.

  She remembered meeting Captain Latimer at the Queen's renaming party. Orym had told Anailu that Captain Latimer was not only a lawyer who specialized in starship and shipping related law, but had previously been a commercial captain herself. Technically, she still was a captain, since she kept her Master's License active, and, with her husband, she owned a small, hyper-capable shuttle.

  She contacted Captain Latimer's scheduling system. There were appointment times available this afternoon, so she grabbed one in a half hour. That would be enough time for the rental car to arrive with time to make it to the lawyer's office.

  Captain Latimer's office was high in a downtown skyscraper, with a view toward the starport. It was just a two-room office, but with direct access from a landing platform. It was decorated with spacer memorabilia, though Anailu wasn't sure if it was Latimer's or her clients'. As she looked at the displays, a short, somewhat dumpy, middle-aged woman, on the way to looking like a grandma, came from the other room. Captain Latimer was wearing a conservative wine-colored suit, with gray streaks in her dark hair, and she walked across the room with a presence that was all professional. The woman strode across to Anailu, hand extended. “Captain Xindar, it's good to see you again.”

  They shook hands. “The same, Captain Latimer.”

  Latimer moved beside Anailu and put her arm around her. “Now that that's out of the way, Anailu – may I call you Anailu? And you must call me Angela.”

  Anailu nodded, surprised by the change in attitude. The lawyer guided her toward the other room. “Please, come into my office and sit down.”

  Anailu was shocked. It must have shown, because Latimer got a worried look on her face. “What's wrong, dear?”

  “It's just – I never expected a lawyer – much less a captain...”

  “To be friendly? I'm sorry, my dear. I try to have a friendly, casual relationship with all my clients. The communication is usually clearer when it's just spacer-to-spacer, no ranks, just like shipmates. In your case, though, I suppose you remind me of my daughter, so tall and determined. I apologize if I offended you.” She looked worried.

  “No, Captain, it's just – you surprised me.”

  “Please, Angela, OK?

  “Angela.” Anailu grinned. “OK, then.”

  “Great. So, how's the Queen? How's business?”

  “She's good. I still need the missing drive parts, and there are some things I can't fix yet because of the cost, but outside of that, she's running OK. I just contracted an intermittent charter with a safari company, and I might get a long term charter which could run up to six months!

  “That's what brought me here. It'll be a contract with Doran University, but the professor who I will actually be working with seems to have his own idea of reality. I don't know that he'd try to cheat me, but I'm concerned that he might think I've promised something I didn't, so I want to make sure the contract is clear.”

  Anailu hesitated, then she decided to tell the rest of it. “Besides that, he's … really a huge ass. It's going to be difficult enough dealing with him without having a solid contract, and maybe a lawyer, to back me up.”

  “Have you ever had a lawyer before?”

  Anailu shook her head.

  “Well, I am willing to take you on as a client. I trust you've seen my rates? If they're acceptable, just transfer the initial payment, and we'll get started.”

  Anailu did so.

  As soon as Angela saw the transfer complete, she nodded. “And now I'm your lawyer. Let's start at the top. You mentioned an existing contract. Did you at least have some lawyer software take a look at that?”

  “No, the Torrells seem like good people, I don't think they'd cheat me.”

  Angela gave her a look like a disapproving schoolteacher. “The Torrells of Torrells' Safaris? I've met them, and I agree that they are nice people, but you really should have a lawyer look over anything that's not a standard contract. For instance, what if they had to sell the company to someone not so nice, who might go looking for any loopholes in your contract and abuse them?”

  “Oh, I didn't think of that.”

  “Too many people don't think of that or a hundred other scenarios. Then they come looking for help. There isn't always something I can do at that point.”

  “So you'd rather be my sensor crew than repel boarders?”

  Angela laughed. “That's my line. I've actually used that analogy with some rock-head spacehounds. I refer to fighting an existing contract like repelling boarders, because they're already all over you by then.”

  Angela got more serious. “About your contracts – have you considered what happens if both of your clients want you to work at the same time?”

  “I'm sorry, I forgot to mention that the Torrells' contract gives them priority, as long as they give me a week's notice.”

  Angela nodded. “Does your university client know that?”

  “Yes, I told him, but I'm not sure if he'll pass that on to whoever writes the contract. He said they'd be contacting me this afternoon.”

  “Alright then, you can pass them on to me. Now, a little advice as a fellow captain, rather than a lawyer. Before you arrived, I looked at the public rate information you posted. You're charging airship rates for a starship charter?”

  “Well, all the Queen can do now is fly like an airship. She's got no thrust outside a gravity well.”

  “That's not the point. She's still a licensed starship. First, a starship must meet Imperial inspection standards and safety standards. An airship on Doran comparatively few. Second, and more important, you're an Imperially licensed starship Master. That requires a much higher level of training, experience, and responsibility than a Doran airship 'skipper.' Your clients are getting that, so you should be compensated as that.

  “Third, have you considered that some potential clients might have seen your rate and assumed there was something wrong with you that was making you desperate for work? You might have screwed yourself out of work by underrating yourself.”

 
; Anailu considered what Angela was saying.

  Is it possible I'm not charging enough?

  “What made this client decide to hire you for this charter?”

  “The Dove-class is equipped with zeroed inertial dampers, and the professor has large experimental equipment that is sensitive to any jarring or vibration. They are taking it to a lot of different locations and doing some sort of scanning. Before this, they had to spend an hour at each spot to recalibrate before they could scan. On our test run today, the Queen was stable enough that they didn't have to stop to recalibrate at all. When we got back, he said that using my ship could cut his time at least in half. He seemed pretty happy about it. That's when the professor said he was ready to hire me and the Queen for six months.”

  Angela rubbed her temples. “Tell me, how many ships are there on Doran with zeroed inertial dampers? Less than I can count on my fingers. How many of those are both cargo ships and available for hire? I'll bet that number is exactly one – your ship. And your commercial listing doesn't even mention zeroed inertial dampers. I guarantee you would get more cargo work if you listed that. There's always high value cargo out there where the owner is just aching for more ways to decrease their risks, and they want to pay more if someone can provide that, even if they don't really need it. Those are people who will pay for extra to hire a transport with zeroed inertial dampers.

  “But back to this contract. My dear, you nearly screwed yourself out of a substantial amount of money. Now, I'm not suggesting you change your listed charter rates right now. Legally, you could, since you don't have a firm agreement yet. Morally, you'd be an ass, though.

  “You say this new client is a total asshole. You gotta have a solid reputation to get away with charging an explicit 'asshole fee,' so that's out. However, I notice you don't have a listed rate for having priority use of the ship on demand. Did you quote him a number for that?”

  She thought back to her conversation with the professor. “No, I just told him it would be more expensive, and he accepted that. I hadn't decided what to charge, and he didn't seem concerned with the details.”

  “OK, then that's where you unscrew yourself. Let's see now. What's the mass and volume of the equipment he's got? Anything else special about it?”

  Anailu told her the rest of what she remembered about the cargo, including the power requirements, and that it was one-of-a-kind scientific equipment. Then she told her the rest that she knew about the work, such as the need for time off in the contract; then Angela went to work with a tablet.

  While she worked, she added, “I'm not really ideal for this part, but it's otherwise a straightforward contract. You should probably consider hiring a business manager, or learn how to do it yourself. Back when I was flying, I hired my Daniel as my business manager, long before he was my husband. Best decision I ever made, and not just because I found the love of my life. He also found me money I had never seen, even though it was passing through my fingers.” Angela smiled and winked as she said. “When he proposed, it's possible I also thought about how it would save me from giving him a percentage out of every deal.”

  When she finished working with the tablet, she handed it to Anailu. “OK, here's my suggestions for your exclusivity rate. You can see that, for your comparison, I put up the numbers I'm guessing he would have paid for chartering an airship with the required payload size and lift capability, with that power output. That doesn't include their probable asshole factor. Unless they were really desperate, I am betting they included it somewhere.

  “You'll note that my suggestion for your total payment will come in at about 25% more than he would pay if he uses anyone else, even assuming it would take twice as long for them to complete the work. I'm betting he needs to get this done quickly, and that means time is more important to him than money. I'd also suggest a bonus clause if you manage to finish faster, and a clause that pays you more if he chooses to extend the charter because there's a delay on his end. There's other things, but they're all pretty standard charter clauses to protect you and him. I expect those will all be required by the university.”

  Anailu made her decision. “I'm going to trust both my lawyer, Angela Latimer, and my fellow captain Angela Latimer. Thanks for the advice. I am wondering, though – how did you end up as both?”

  “I was born into it – the spacing, not the lawyering. My family runs an independent trading company, and I became a captain because that was what my family wanted. I got into a contract dispute that kept me stuck in port for several months. As it ground on, I started learning about the law because I wanted to understand what my lawyer was doing. I was surprised to realize I liked it, better than I liked flying a starship.”

  Anailu couldn't understand that, and said so.

  “I know, I know, most spacers don't get it. Just because I was born to a spacer family doesn't mean I was meant to be one, though. It's not like I jumped ship or something. I started taking courses, and when I got home, I told my parents. They weren't happy about it, but they eventually came around. My husband was from Doran, so we moved here to be near his family and raise our own family.”

  They talked some more. When they were done, they stood, shook hands, and then Angela demanded a hug. “C'mere, you.”

  This hug was less uncomfortable for Anailu, because Angela somehow reminded Anailu of her old nanny. “Do you hug all your clients?”

  “No, just the ones I really like. You really do remind me of my daughter, you know. So young and so earnest...As soon as you walked in the door, I felt like we were already friends.”

  Anailu discovered that she liked Angela, too. She told her so, and which was cause for another hug.

  When they'd said their goodbyes, Anailu went to her aircar and headed for Tombes & Tollas, where she was scheduled to get her credential cards and then to meet the clothing designer. On the way there, the university finally called. She immediately forwarded them to her lawyer, Angela Latimer.

  Chapter 10: In Which Art Is Inspired

  At Tombes & Tollas, she was helped by Mrs. Tollas personally. The first task she had to complete to meet the Torrells' requirements was ordering credential cards. In proper Imperial society, people would share credential cards when they met, or send their card to someone they wished to meet. This was a polite gesture, but also useful, because the card contained certified data to confirm the person's identity and position. Mrs. Tollas told her that as owner and captain of a starship, it was proper to include her ship's registry as well. Anailu ordered the cards themselves plain with no art, which was the cheapest option – and with only the simple inscription:

  Captain Anailu Xindar

  Owner, Silver Queen

  The cards could be used with a standard data reader; but only a certified reader, a query to the card maker, or a query to the central database on the Core Worlds could verify a credential card. Most people who went to the trouble of using the cards also bought a certified reader. For now, a reader was an unnecessary expense, so Anailu skipped it.

  Mrs. Tollas explained that Anailu would need a suitable card-case. She would use it not just to store her own cards, but also to store any cards she received. Therefore, it needed to be attractive to show respect for the people that gave their cards to her. Still, Anailu was worried about price, so she chose the cheapest acceptable case, a simple one in silver. She didn't want to damage the case so she decided to only carry it if she knew she would be involved in a proper social gathering, such as one of the Torrells' safaris. She would store several of her cards in her captain's wallet, in case of “emergencies.”

  Mrs. Tollas informed Anailu that normally, there was a wait of several days to get the data from the core, but for her it could be done immediately. The same checks had been completed when she had received her Master's License on Doran, and they were still valid. In addition, she'd registered her ship on Doran. They just had to retrieve the information from Doran's Admiralty system to create the cards.

  With the cred
ential cards completed and in her possession, the butler ushered her into a large, airy private room where she was introduced to a skinny, balding man, lounging on a couch with his eyes closed. “Mister Dodato, may I present Captain Xindar, of the starship Silver Queen?”

  She had read the very short bio that Tombes & Tollas made available. Apparently, “Dodato” went by only the one name. He had been a designer on the Core Worlds, but the bio didn't explain why he was living on Doran.

  When she was introduced, Dodato did not get up from his chair or even open his eyes. He merely quirked an eyebrow up at the name of her ship.

  He waved a hand at the butler. “Thank you, Mr. Powell.” The butler gave a short bow and left, closing the salon door behind him.

  “If you would, Captain, say nothing. Go to the holotable and bring up a view of your ship on it. Not just a photograph, mind you. When designing a uniform, I base my designs the essence of both the captain and the ship, so I must get my first impressions of both simultaneously.”

  Anailu walked to the table, but... providing a view or a three-dimensional capture of the Queen? She didn't have one, just a plain photo. Then she remembered that Orym had had one in his ad. She pulled up his listings – and was disappointed to find it was no longer on there; he only had views for the ships he currently had for sale.

  “Madam, I am waiting. We don't want my impression of you to be based on an inordinate delay, do we?”

  Anailu blanked out. Why hadn't somebody warned her about this? Then she remembered that years ago, she had used a view of a Dove in the past as a background on her comm screen. She found it, and transferred it into the holo. As it activated, the windows darkened and the lights dropped lower.

  As the room dimmed, Dodato sat up and turned toward Anailu and the holo.

  Wait, that's the wrong Dove.

  It wasn't a standard Dove, it was one of the silver-chrome diplomatic ships. Anailu looked down at her comm, to find a view of the right type of Dove.