The Thunder of Engines

by Laurence Dahners

  Marks fixed Kaem with a steady gaze, then gave a quick shake of his head. “That’s not a great deal. Assuming an entire rocket has seven engines in the booster and one on the upper stage. That’s a total of eight for sixteen million dollars. Add on the twenty million dollars for the booster body and then add an upper stage body and a delivery capsule for five million each. That means you’re planning to charge us forty-six million for a rocket that doesn’t have any of the pumps, fuel feed plumbing, descent parachutes, landing legs, astronaut seats, computers, control systems, and on and on. Our current rockets only cost us about fifty-seven million total, so by the time we added the rest of the stuff to the bare bones you provided us, going with yours would cost a lot more.”

  Kaem smiled back. “I thought you might want to include the plumbing as integral to the rocket’s body. And, you won’t need pumps.”

  Marks blinked, “Okay, I understand integral plumbing, though laying it out might be harder than you think. But we’ve got to have pumps. Fuel has to be delivered to the engines at high enough pressures…” Marks paused as Kaem lifted a palm.

  Kaem said, “Squirt a little oxygen into your hydrogen tank and ignite it.”

  “What?! It’d explode!”

  “Not if the tanks are made of stade,” Kaem said calmly. “Stade’d hold in the pressure of such a combustion event. You just need to carefully calculate how much oxygen you’re going to squirt into the tank so it generates the pressures you want. You’ll need sturdy pressure regulators and valves to control the flows of fluids under such high pressures. There’ll likely be benefits to fabricating those components from stade as well, but we could give you a deal on those.”

  Kaem paused, Arya thought he was giving Marks time to come to grips with the radical idea he’d just proposed. Then he continued, “Next. Landing legs aren’t needed. Just drop the booster in the ocean. It won’t be damaged by the impact or corroded by the seawater. If you limit the number of non-stade components and used lighter than air stade for the body and engines, it’d be so light it’d fall slowly, even without a parachute.”

  Marks looked completely dumbfounded, as did the other Space-Gen people at the table.

  Silence reigned.

  When no one said anything for a couple of moments, Kaem continued. “Computing. You’ll mostly be able to use off-the-shelf computing components because stade blocks the ionizing radiation that damages semiconductors and memory components out in space. Therefore, very little in the way of expensive radiation-hardened computing components will be necessary. I should point out that blocking radiation will also be of great benefit to the astronauts themselves. Especially when they travel into high radiation environments beyond low Earth orbit on their way to the Moon, Mars or the asteroids. It could be argued that, now that stade’s available, it’s irresponsible to send people into space without such protection.”

  “Wait a minute!” Marks exclaimed, “You can’t tell me stade will block every high GeV particle!”

  “I can, and it will,” Kaem said calmly. “If it doesn’t,” he grinned, “we’ll sell it to you for 50% off.”

  Despite her focused attention on the principals of the conversation, Arya noticed Saul Izzo frantically making notes.

  Kaem resumed talking. “As far as your control systems, fins made from stade won’t break or burn up, even if you place them directly in the exhaust stream of the rocket engines, which incidentally is where they’ll give you the most control. Personnel can be returned to earth in capsules that land in the ocean or in shuttle-like designs that land on airfields. Neither of those designs will need ablative tiles since stade will easily tolerate the heat of re-entry and won’t transmit any of that heat to the passengers.” Kaem smiled. “You’ve got me on the seats. Staze won’t be able to save you money on those. I would like to point out, however, that the parts of your rocket that’re made from stade will never need to be examined, tested, or refurbished. They won’t need to be replaced until you design something better and want to upgrade. This means that, essentially, you’ll only have to buy as many rockets as you intend to have in operation at any one time. You won’t have to buy new ones to replace those that’re aging out. Also, fuel costs will be significantly reduced by the decreased weight of lighter-than-air stade rockets.” He looked Marks in the eyes, “I believe we’re giving you a deal that’ll let you substantially lower the costs of orbital launch.”

  Marks glanced around at the rest of his team, most of whom looked as stunned as he seemed to be. But by the time his eyes returned to Kaem, he had his look of wonder in control. He narrowed his eyes, “Your pricing is for exclusive access to stade, right?”

  Kaem managed to look astonished, though Arya thought he’d expected the question. “Oh! Sorry. No. If you want exclusive use for rocketry, we could give you that for three years, but your rate would double.”

  “You’re going to charge me almost as much for one rocket as I offered for your entire company?!” Marks asked incredulously.

  Kaem drew back and gave Marks a reproachful shake of his head. He said, “You did make an offensively low bid, didn’t you? Not even what you spend on two of your rockets? Trust me, Mr. Marks, we do have a handle on the value of our technology. We have great admiration for Space-Gen and for you personally, but we won’t be taken advantage of.”

  You go Kaem! Arya thought. She almost immediately began having second thoughts. What if Kaem was overvaluing the tech? What if they missed out on this bid and never got another one as good? What if they slaved away for decades trying to turn Staze into the world-changing corporation Kaem envisioned, all without success? The expected value could be chipped away by claims of patent infringement from people like Martin. By some unanticipated failure of stade to perform as they hoped.

  Marks had been studying Kaem. Now he glanced over at Cary Lark. Arya couldn’t tell whether anything passed between them, but Marks turned back to Kaem looking resolved. “Okay,” he said. “So, you won’t sell your company and its IP for a hundred million. What about a billion dollars? You’d be unbelievably rich. The income from investing it alone would be enough that you’d just keep getting richer. You’d never have to work again.”

  Arya heard Cary Lark inhale sharply, as if this hadn’t been part of the original plan.

  Kaem only chuckled a little and shook his head. “All we have to do is sell you eleven exclusive rockets. We’d have that billion, with more rockets yet to sell. And, then we could use that capital to develop stade in the ways we want. Ways that’ll make real differences in the world. The kinds of differences I’ve always dreamed of making.”

  Arya’s earbud chirped, “You have a call from Green Launch Initiative.”

  “I’ll take it,” she said, pushing back her chair and rising to move to a corner away from the crowd at the table.

  A voice said, “I hear Aaron Marks is bidding to buy your company?”

  “Hi,” Arya said, brightly, then hoping her tone wasn’t too bright. “This is Arya Vaii of Staze Incorporated. Who’s calling please?”

  “Jerry Branzon, calling from GLI. Is Aaron Marks really there?”

  “Um…” Arya said, wondering whether there was any reason to keep Marks’ presence a secret. Meanwhile, her inner businesswoman freaked out to be talking to Branzon, the wealthiest man on the planet—and self-made to boot. Deciding there not only wasn’t a reason to keep it a secret, but that telling Branzon might set off a bidding war to their advantage, she said, “Yes, he’s here.”

  Branzon said, “And it must be about seven PM there, correct?” Branzon didn’t wait for an answer. He said, “So, I suppose he’s got you out for some wining and dining. When he makes an offer, make him wait and call me back. Whatever it is, I’ll beat it.”

  “Um, he’s making an offer right now.”

  “Crap,” Branzon said, sounding irritated. “Let me ask a few questions then. Unfortunately, I’m way behind the eight-ball because the idiot who received and tested your samples didn’t
tell me about them until a few hours ago.”

  “Okay.”

  Rapid-fire, Branzon asked questions Arya had heard before: How long stade would last, whether it was susceptible to breakdown, whether it could be produced in anything but air or water densities, etc.

  Arya told him the answers just as quickly, having heard Kaem answer them several times by now.

  “Okay,” Branzon said abruptly. “What’s Marks offering for your IP?”

  “He offered a billion dollars. But the IP isn’t for—”

  Branzon interrupted with a snort. “Well, that’s a lowball offer. I could’ve predicted Marks would try to screw you. I’ll make a starting offer of ten billion.”

  “Um, the IP’s not for sale.”

  “Really? I’ve been told your company consists of three people. Isn’t that right?”

  “No,” Arya said, consoling herself that it wasn’t a lie if she counted Morales. “We’re small, but… we want to develop Stade ourselves.” When Branzon didn’t respond immediately, she continued, “We’re negotiating with Mr. Marks to provide Space-Gen with rocket motors, bodies, cryotanks, and space capsules made from stade.”

  “How do you form them? Seems like stade would be impossible to stamp, form, or machine. None of the ways we shape metals should work.”

  “Um, you can think of it as a casting process, even though it isn’t actually casting. You’d provide us with molds of your design, made from glass or other transparent materials with mirrored surfaces. We’d fill them with stade. We could even cast it at your launch site so you wouldn’t have to ship the components.”

  “And how much are you charging for it?”

  Arya went over the pricing Kaem had just given Marks.

  “Okay,” Branzon said, “I’ll offer twenty percent more.”

  Startled by how fast Branzon was moving, Arya asked, “Is that twenty percent more for the exclusive or the non-exclusive deal?”

  “Either one. I’d prefer the exclusive deal though.”

  “I-I’ll let them know.”

  “Whatever you do, don’t sign a deal without talking to me again. I’m gathering my people and we’re going to fly out there. Sorry to say, we’ll arrive in the middle of the night so you probably won’t want to talk to us until morning.”

  “Okay…” Arya said, staggered by the way things were moving.

  Branzon hung up and Arya looked around. Everyone at the table had turned to look at her. Kaem spoke to her, “Mr. Marks has agreed to our prices. I’m not quite sure what’s next? Do we wait until morning, then look over whatever contract Mr. Izzo draws up?” Kaem looked at Morales, “Could you look over the contract with us too?”

  Morales shook his head, “For a contract this big, you need a lawyer who specializes in contract law. I’d recommend Sylvia Contreras.”

  Arya started around the table to Kaem’s side.

  “Alright then,” Marks said jovially, extending his hand. “Shake on it now. Then we can have a beer. We’ll niggle the finer points in the morning.”

  “No!” Arya said when Kaem started to reach his hand toward Marks.

  Kaem pulled back.

  Arya leaned in to Kaem’s right ear, happy that doing it put her between Kaem and April Lee. She spoke quietly as if expressing a confidence, but knowingly loud enough that people would be able to hear. “I just got a call from GLI—”

  Kaem interrupted, “Who?”

  “Green Launch Initiative. Jerry Branzon wants to bid.”

  Marks spoke sternly, “Tell them they’re too late. We already have a deal.”

  Arya said, “They’re offering twenty percent more than you are Mr. Marks. Or, ten billion to buy the entire IP.”

  “That son of a bitch,” Marks said. “Wait, who’d you talk to? Branzon often reneges on what his people say.”

  “It was Branzon himself that called.” Arya glanced around at the reactions of as many of the Space-Gen people as she could eyeball without making it obvious. They looked distressed.

  Unhappily, Marks said, “I’ll go twenty-five percent over your ask if you’ll sign it tonight.”

  Arya said, “Mr. Branzon said he’s flying here from the west coast tonight and will meet with us in the morning. He strongly urges us not to make a deal without talking to him again.”

  “Come on, Kaem.” Marks said, “You don’t want a bastard like Branzon rolling out the first rockets using your baby, do you?”

  Arya couldn’t see Kaem’s face, but she could hear the smile on it. “I don’t know him or whether he’s a bastard or not. But I do respect him enough to listen to his offer.”

  “You know, they’re pretty far behind Space-Gen in the launch business. You should consider the possibility that he might pay you more than we will per rocket, but then won’t buy very many. Your payday could be considerably less.”

  Kaem nodded, “Good point. Thanks. We’ll be sure to consider inserting a minimum order in the contract.”

  From there, the dinner event gradually steered away from uncomfortable business and became more of a social event. Marks in particular turned on his already charismatic personality, carefully taking time to charm each of the four people associated with Staze.

  On a break in a conversation, Arya noticed a young woman she didn’t know enter the room. The woman looked around, then approached Tom Morales. He talked to her a moment, got out his phone and gave it a few commands, then handed it to her. She left the room, taking his phone with her. What was that about? Arya wondered. Before she could give it more thought, Lee and her fascinating yellow-green eyes appeared at Arya’s side. “Hello?”

  Lee tilted her head away toward the emptier side of the room, saying, “Could we talk, off a bit away from the crowd?”

  “Um, sure,” Arya said, uneasily wondering what Lee could want, but following her a few steps away from the closest group.

  Lee turned and gave Arya an intense look. “Is Staze really just you, Kaem and Gunnar?” She shook her head, “No, don’t answer that. I shouldn’t have asked because it’s none of my business.” Lee glanced around as if checking on whether people might overhear. Arya noticed how Lee’s eyes caught on Kaem again. Lee turned back to Arya. “My first trip out here, Kaem made an offhand remark that…” she hesitated.

  “What?” Arya said, trying to conceal her impatience. She wanted to find out what was going on with Morales.

  “Sorry, I’m embarrassed. He said he couldn’t explain how stade’s formed unless I came to work for you guys. He said you needed an engineer. Um, the more I learn about it, the more I do want to work for Staze. Are you really hiring?”

  Does she want to work for Staze, or does she want to work on Kaem? Arya wondered uncharitably. She said, “What’d he say when you asked him?”

  “I haven’t asked,” Lee said with an embarrassed grin. “I don’t want to put him on the spot if he was just kidding around.”

  “I can’t read his mind any better than you can.”

  “But, surely, as the business… person, you’d know whether you guys are looking to hire or not.”

  “I’m sure we’ll want to hire eventually. I’m not sure we can afford to hire anyone right now.”

  “But, surely, with that million-dollar fee Space-Gen paid to hold the right of first offer…”

  “Yeah, but there are some issues with spending it. Ones I can’t share with you.”

  “What if I came to work for free? At least till you had the money to pay me?”

  She’s sounding more and more like a gold-digger who’s after a husband, Arya thought bleakly. She said, “I think you’re going to have to ask Kaem.”

  “Um, are you and Kaem…?”

  “Are Kaem and I what?”

  Lee glanced away, “Romantically involved?”

  “No! Why would you even think that?”

  “Sorry. It’s just that he’s so nice. And he has such a great sense of humor. It’s easy to see how you could’ve fallen for him. And…”

 
“And what?” Arya said unable to keep from being abrupt.

  “And you seem to give me a lot of jealous looks when I’m around him.”

  WHAT! Arya’s thoughts fairly screamed. She forced a smile. “No. Nothing romantic here. And, I hate to tell you this, but he actually has a terrible sense of humor.”

  “Oh. Um, okay.” Lee looked puzzled for a moment, then said, “I’ll go ask him then. The more I think about stade, the more I want to be involved in developing it. If GLI gets the contract it’d break my heart if I was still working for Space-Gen.” She turned and wandered off, probably trying not to make it obvious she was angling toward Kaem.

  Arya thought, I should’ve told her we didn’t have any room for people who’re trying to marry our CEO! She started after Lee, then decided it’d be too embarrassing to confront Lee about it now. But, she resolved, I will talk to Kaem about it.

  Arya looked around and found Morales. She headed his way. Arriving, she asked, “Who was the young woman who took your phone?”

  He grinned at her. “Nothing slips past you, does it? That was Sylvia Contreras, the contracts specialist I mentioned. Kaem asked me to put her on your case.”

  “In the evening?!”

  “It seemed like things were moving pretty fast and we’d need some expertise very soon.” Morales arched an eyebrow, “She’s young but very sharp. Also, she’s single. Young, hungry, lawyers definitely come out at night if there’s a chance to get in on the ground floor of something big. I’m surprised young lawyers aren’t oozing out of the floors here.”

  “So, why does she have your phone?”

  “I recorded Kaem and Marks’ conversation about the proposed deal. She’s listening to it now to get a grasp on what’s been offered.”

  “Ah,” Arya said, pleased to have five people on their team. But how are we paying her?

  Shrugging off that question, she surveyed the room again. Gunnar came in the door, having left for home only a few minutes earlier. He looked agitated. His eyes roved around and found Kaem, then he headed that way. Arya moved that way as well, hoping Gunnar was pissed about something unimportant—as usual—and not upset because something bad had happened.