8K wasn't bad, but she also needed to buy that burned out system for another 2K.
10K was half the cost of a new StellaSystem, and two-thirds the cost of that crappy system, but the important thing was that she could afford it – barely.
“If they all pass the basic diagnostic test, then it's a deal.”
They shook on it, and then Anailu proceeded to pull each rack unit out of the crate to test it. She had a standard test probe which she attached to her comm. She connected each rack unit to the dongle, and ran the basic self-test routines – the ones that didn't require being hooked up to ship's power, the other rack units, the ship's computer, or an antenna.
All the tests passed. They seemed to be a full set of functioning rack units. She packed them back into the crate, paid Nate, and picked up the case of wine to hand to him.
Nate put his hand out to stop her and shook his head. “Some friendly advice, young'un. Next time, haggle. If you don't learn to do it by reflex, you'll be a poorer captain. Oh, and the Cutter Wine's yours too.”
Anailu blushed. She'd gotten excited and forgotten that crucial part of the deal. Too late for that now, though. But what was this about the wine? “I thought you said captains only transferred Cutter Wine for bets? That it's a tradition?”
“Yeah, but getting a new captain started with her first case of Cutter Wine is also a tradition. It's good luck for both of us. You'll see, it will come in handy. Just keep in mind that not all captains pad their crates when settling bets, especially in the Core Worlds – though that's partly because the Core Worlds always inspect the crates. Never pad your first crate in a new port, unless you have solid, and I mean solid data that they respect tradition. Oh, and watch out for captains who wear swanky dress uniforms, you can just assume they're the type who never pad, and might not respect any Cutter tradition.”
Anailu thought of the “swanky dress uniform” being constructed on her ship right this moment.
I wonder what Nate would think of my other “uniform.” On second thought, no, I don't want to know.
Nate continued, “So, you want to head into the 'Rest' and have a drink, hold down a seat for a while?”
“Thanks for the offer, Nate, but I'd better go buy that busted StellaSystem before someone else grabs it. Next time?”
“Alright then, I'll hold you to it.”
Nate closed the van's cargo door, then hit the button to raise the outside door so Anailu could leave.
Hurriedly, Anailu got in the van and sealed the crate. Then she backed the van outside and headed for the used commsystem dealer.
Chapter 18: Something Curious
It wasn't too likely that someone would buy a burnt out StellaSystem, but she was still worried about it. She was relieved when she got to the shop and it was still available. She immediately bought it and loaded it into the back of the van next to the crate.
Anailu was still concerned about the whole “smuggled goods” thing. Realistically, no one would be trying to catch her with illegal goods, but she decided it would be prudent if she could put everything in just the one crate. She opened the crate and carefully placed all the broken StellaSystem rack units into the crate, on top of the working StellaMil rack units. They barely fit. At that point, she had to take the wine bottles out of their case and find spaces between the parts to slide the bottles into. Finally she folded up the empty wine case and set it in the crate on top of everything else. With everything inside, the lid would almost close. She didn't want to take a chance on squashing the expensive electronics, so she left it that way.
She returned to the Queen, got the crate out, and pushed it up the ramp and into the ship. She took the crate back to Engineering, since the workshop there was the best place to do the delicate work of switching cases. Also, it was out of the way of any curious University assistants.
She'd bought a set of StellaSystem repair manuals along with the burned out system, so she spent the evening with them, hoping to learn enough to ensure the case swap and installation would go smoothly.
In the morning, Petro and the assistants arrived for another day with the Beast. She'd agreed to extra time today, since they'd lost Wednesday afternoon and would be losing Friday. The contract didn't require it, but when she'd been talking to Petro about the schedule, she could see that he wasn't looking forward to telling Untsala that this week would be shortened for Anailu's preparations, when the next week would also be shortened for the actual trip.
So, today they were starting at 7 AM, returning at 7 PM, and unloading the Beast after that. They'd be eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner aboard, so Anailu decided to include a stop for lunch. Again Petro didn't mind. He said that Untsala usually just counted scans.
When Naomi arrived, she came up to Anailu, grabbed her hands and said, “Well?”
“What, the uniform? I haven't checked on it. It's still in the laundry.”
At that, Naomi grabbed her hand and started dragging her toward the lift. “C'mon, I want to see!”
When they reached the laundry, Anailu sighed and accessed the laundry's output storage. Yep, there it is. It looked plainer than it had in the holo version, but the laundry storage lighting wasn't very bright. The laundry itself wasn't very good as a showroom, probably because it had been designed to deliver clothes directly to VIP staterooms via the transport pods – the VIP staterooms that didn't exist on the Queen.
“We should go try it on now!”
Anailu closed the laundry storage and it locked itself. “No, we shouldn't. I've got to prep for departure. We're starting out as soon as everyone's aboard.”
“Awww. You're no fun.” Naomi sighed. “I guess you're right, though. Petro really wants to get an early start today.”
Anailu shooed Naomi from the laundry, then went to the bridge to get the ship ready to leave.
The morning passed uneventfully. Anailu successfully held off Naomi. While Naomi and everyone else was busy working at a scan point, Anailu took her new uniform from the laundry. The material was very soft. In the brighter lights of the compartment, she had to admit it was a very pretty fabric, too, with the subtle feathery details. On the way to her cabin, she took the uniform into the lounge to see it in the sunlight. When she had it in direct sunlight, the silvery details really sparkled. That was not as subtle as she wanted.
Note to self: avoid direct sunlight when wearing this uniform.
Anailu went to her cabin and put the uniform away in the chest.
They arrived at the scan location where they'd be spending an hour for lunch. While they ate, they would complete the scan as well. Four of the assistants volunteered to manage the Beast during the scanning. If nothing went wrong, that would be sufficient.
When Anailu left the bridge for the upper deck, Naomi was waiting outside the lift, barely containing her excitement.“Now?”
Anailu rolled her eyes. “Yes, now.”
They went to her cabin. Naomi looked a little surprised. “What, you brought it from the laundry and didn't tell me?”
“Yes, I did. We've only got an hour, and I still want to have lunch once this is over with.”
“You don't seem very excited about this.”
“I'm...interested. Isn't that enough?”
They went into the dressing room. Anailu opened up the chest and then the compartment reserved for the dark uniform. The dress form extended out of the compartment with the uniform on it. Here, the lighting was designed to show off clothing.
Naomi gasped. “Wow. Dodato might think this is garbage, but plenty of other designers would kill to have made something this beautiful.” She touched the fabric, sliding her hand along it. “This fabric is glorious. I can't believe he gave it entirely to you!” She turned and looked at Anailu, still stroking the uniform. “You got a bargain, darling. I can't believe it, but you stormed off from a top designer and came out ahead! It's one thing to storm off and eventually get welcomed back. It's another to get a designer to give you a deal. But both? Amazing.”<
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Anailu shrugged. “It's nice.”
Naomi dropped her hand from the uniform, gave a serious look, and in a commanding voice, said, “Strip! I want to see it on you, now!”
Anailu raised one eyebrow. “OK, just as soon as you step out of here.”
“What? We're both girls here. I'll help you put it on.”
“No. Out.”
Naomi sighed and went out to Anailu's office and sitting area. “Ana, sometimes you're more prudish than my Gram.”
Ana closed the door and turned back to the uniform. OK, this was it. She took off her jumpsuit, and then put on the uniform. The last time she'd worn a dress uniform was as in the cadet academy, and she'd never enjoyed that. She put on everything but the hat and the cloak. The cloak was just for outdoors, and it was the captain's prerogative to decide if crew would wear their hats while aboard. Anailu decided it was just one more thing to mess up somehow. She decided: no hat. She put the hat back into its cubbyhole in the storage chest. She looked in the mirror, and decided to leave her hair as it was.
She opened the door and walked out to her office. Naomi popped up from where she was sitting. Naomi walked around her, nodded, and then grabbed her hand and started pulling her toward the dressing room.
“It's wonderful, but now you need to put on the rest of it.”
Anailu let Naomi lead her into the dressing room. “You want to see me in the cloak?”
Naomi laughed. “Silly, I mean this.” She pushed Anailu into the chair in front of the painter. “A woman's not formally dressed without makeup. You'll have a hard time getting invited back to another formal affair if you show up without it.”
Anailu sighed and turned the painter on. She picked out the most minimal makeup program that Dodato had included with the uniform, and even then she set it to the minimum application, which was most professional to her eye.
As Anailu rested her head on the painter to start it, Naomi continued commenting, “I suppose that's not an absolute rule, now that I think about it. I've seen a number of women who can go to a soiree with little or no makeup, but they've all been politicians, powerful business owners, or admirals – that sort of thing. Hmm. Maybe you just have to be a formidable woman. Even for them, I've heard whispering about it in the drawing room when just the women are there. So rude. They still got invited, so maybe the rule is just that you need to be a more formidable woman than the hostess.
“Well, whatever. My point is this: You aren't formidable enough yet to get away with it, so don't try!”
This painter was very expensive, so it was also very quick. By the time Naomi finished her soliloquy, the painter pinged that it was done.
Anailu leaned back.
Naomi let out a little squee of delight. “Oh, my God, you're so beautiful. I mean, you could certainly stand to wear more, but wow! Nobody's going to doubt you're the captain looking like that!”
Anailu looked at herself in the mirror. She decided that she didn't really look very different, but the eyeliner and darkened lashes and eyebrows made her eyes really stand out.
I can handle this much.
But Naomi wasn't done. “I think you should leave the makeup on for the rest of the day, just to see how everyone reacts. It'll be great!”
“Tut, tut, dear Naomi. Miss Prithers says you don't change your makeup in the middle of an engagement unless you want to send some sort of message, and adding more makeup only sends one message.”
“Oh, pooh. Fine, you win. But let's eat in here, and you keep that on until we're done. You have to get used to wearing it.”
“OK. I guess that makes sense.”
“Good, you wait here and practice walking around, while I go get some food.”
Anailu attempted to act super-dignified. “Naomi, dear, that won't be necessary. You forget, We are the captain! We shall be served here.”
Naomi broke up, laughing.
“What, too much? I've got an autoprep outlet here in my cabin.”
They sat down and ordered. Once that was done, Naomi clapped her hands. “I've got a surprise for you. I'm invited to your final exam dinner at the Torrells.”
Anailu blinked at her. “How did that happen?”
“Well, Miss Prithers invited me up to visit yesterday, so I went and met with her and Mrs. Torrell. We had a good conversation, and the short version is that I'm invited. Besides, this means you'll have some backup.”
Anailu replied, “That's great! I know you aren't a big fan of doing this stuff, so I really appreciate it.”
“Nah, I don't mind as much as I thought I would. I'm not sure why. Usually, I avoid formal stuff like the plague.”
“Do you want to fly over to the Lightness with me?”
“Thanks! That'll be great. We can arrive at the dinner together!”
With that, the food arrived, and they ate. Anailu practiced eating formally while Naomi critiqued her manners. When they were done, Naomi left the cabin while Anailu changed back to her shipsuit and set the painter to remove her makeup.
The rest of the day passed uneventfully. They returned to the University and went through the process of disassembling, dismounting, and unloading the Beast. Again, Untsala wasn't there.
Once the University crew and their equipment were all gone, Anailu locked up for the night and spent some time playing etiquette scenarios until she was ready for bed. She didn't stay up late because she had an early appointment to have the medbay equipment reinstalled.
On Friday morning, she flew the Queen to the starport district, and landed at the medical equipment company's work bay. The process was pretty painless. It took several hours, though most of the time was for final diagnostic checks after the equipment was installed. When the equipment was checked out, the technicians put seals on the access ports – not to block repairs, but to leave an indication if anyone did unauthorized work. Anailu would have to return to a certified shop at intervals to maintain the certifications. Fortunately, the shortest maintenance interval was a year away, so she could decide if keeping the certification was worth it then.
Once the work was done, and all the paperwork had been turned over to her, she flew back to her University pad. Having a free landing spot and use of the umbilical continued to be a very nice perk of the University contract.
She started working on the rack units, comparing the StellaSystem ones to the matching StellaMil ones.
They were very much alike, but she noticed that some of the StellaMil units had some additional connectors that weren't described in the StellaSystem manual.
She also disassembled one of the broken units, just to see how it actually looked inside. Once she'd examined it, she decided that her original plan was too risky. Swapping components between the systems might break something. She wanted to be sure the StellaMil system was working before she added to her problems by tearing them apart.
She put the primary set of StellaMil rack units on a cart and took them up to the bridge, where the primary comm system resided. Not all of the rack units would end up on the bridge; there was a redundant set of units which would be installed in Engineering. That wasn't required for regulatory compliance, but it was typical for high-end or military systems. There were also auxiliary units for the lounge and the forward lift areas. That was a little unusual. While the lounge, aft, and bow section, with the forward lift, were also escape pods, most escape pods just had emergency beacons. On this Dove, the comm systems for each one had full long range capabilities, with its own antennae and everything.
On the bridge, Anailu cut the power to the comm system, then pulled out and unplugged the cheap unit that was occupying just two of the rack slots. With no comms, she couldn't fly legally, but she wasn't planning to going anywhere.
As she mounted each rack unit on the bridge, she discovered some of the ship's interfaces for the comm system had additional connectors not listed in the StellaSystem manual. She looked at the StellaMil unit intended for that interface, then she went down to engineering
and grabbed the matching burnt-out StellaSystem unit, just to make sure. There was no question: the Queen had all the matching plugs for the extra connectors on the StellaMil units that were not on the civilian version.
It freaked her out a little. The only reasonable conclusion was that whoever had originally ordered this Dove must have had something to do with the military. But after all, the Doves were designed for exceedingly rich and powerful people, so that wasn't too surprising. Maybe it was a small clue to her ship's mysterious origins.
With that figured out, she went back to work, connecting everything, including the special StellaMil connectors. Once all the rack units were installed and locked in place, she brought up the system power, unit by unit, following the service manual recommended procedure. She hoped it was the same procedure for the StellaMil version.
Comparing the information displayed on the consoles with what the manual showed, it was obvious they were pretty much the same, except for logos and some extra StellaMil features. The startup sequences listed additional modules for falsifying ID, intercepting communications and jamming. The only tests that failed were for the false ID functions – her commercial transponder couldn't support that function.
With the system initialized, she started wondering if there was a way to leave the StellaMil units in place, and just make them pretend to be StellaSystem units. She didn't think it would work, but she decided just to try. She still didn't want to accidentally break something when she couldn't afford the time or the money for replacement parts. She thought she might just use the StellaMil units for this one trip, then swap the parts over.
There was a section in the manual about selecting different interface themes. Anailu dug through the system menus and found that the StellaSystem themes were indeed included, so she switched them over. The only other thing to do was to swap out the StellaMil faceplates.
She went down to Engineering and pulled the matching StellaSystem faceplates off their rack units. The StellaMil faceplates were purely functional, while the StellaSystem faceplates were much blingier, with extra lights that did nothing but look cool.
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