by Bob Blanton
“I am,” one of the guys said. “Jerome Walsh.” He extended his hand. All of the men were struggling not to stare at Catie in her hot outfit.
“I’m Yvette, and this is Alex. We’re both going to Delphi Academy.”
“Military women,” another guy said. “Jerome, they’ll have all your moves figured out before you finish your drink.”
“That’s Braxton,” Jerome said. “I would say he’s a friend, but now I’m not so sure.”
“Hi,” Braxton said. “What are you two studying at the Academy?”
“I’m studying program management,” Yvette said. “Alex is studying aerospace engineering.”
“Aerospace engineering, that’s cool. You should be getting the latest on all the Delphi technology,” Braxton said.
“I hope we are,” Catie said.
“Do you know anything about the station that Delphi has in the asteroid belt?” Braxton asked.
“You mean Gemini Station?”
“Yes.”
“A little.”
“How big is it?”
“He’s a nerd,” Yvette whispered to Catie. “You can have him.” Yvette slipped her hand inside of Jerome’s arm and walked off with him toward the bar.
◆ ◆ ◆
Catie had to hand it to Yvette, the woman really knew how to relax. They’d checked into the Four Seasons two days ago and had already had three appointments at the spa. Right now, Yvette was at the nail salon having her nails clipped nice and short. Long fingernails were unlikely to survive on one of the schooners for very long.
“Alex, you always know so much about technology here in Delphi City, don’t they have some kind of lotion you can put on that will act like a glove?” Yvette asked when she came back to the room.
“What?!”
“Act like a glove, to protect our hands from the salt grime that will be on those ropes. I hate to think what working that schooner will do to my poor hands. Très mauvais.”
“I’ve never heard of anything like that,” Catie said as she messaged the idea to Marcie. Dr. Metra could probably think of something. A glove that you put on like lotion sounded pretty neat.
“Oh, I am going to hate these next two weeks!”
“Hey, it won’t be as bad as Guatemala.”
“No, to be worse than Guatemala, they would have to kill us.”
“You’re such a big baby.”
“Yes, and don’t you forget it. I work hard to make my body beautiful. They should not work so hard to make it horrible.”
“You’ll survive. It’s only two weeks.”
“Yes, and it starts tomorrow. We must go to the spa again and get facials. Maybe they have a lotion that will protect our skin from the salt air.”
“I thought salt air was good for your skin.”
“Only when you wear a bikini and suntan lotion.”
“You actually wear a bikini?” Catie joked.
“At least the bottoms.”
Chapter 3
Board Meeting – Jan 3rd
“I call this meeting to order,” Marc said. “Is everyone linked in?”
“We’re good here,” Blake said.
“I’m in,” Catie messaged. She was alone in the room at the Four Seasons. Yvette was at the spa having her last treatment.
“Okay, Nikola, you said you had something to discuss.”
“Yes, as you all know, we’re critically low on quantum relays. We’ve been skating by with all of the ones we took off the Paraxean ships after the war. But we’ve used most of them.”
“That’s not good,” Catie said. “Are we going to have to cannibalize them from our Foxes?” One in ten Foxes had the quantum relay to enable continuous contact with the squadrons.
“Only if absolutely necessary. They’re critical to our control of the squadrons; I don’t want to go below the one-in-ten ratio,” Blake said.
“Hasn’t Dr. Nakahara figured out how to make them yet?” Catie asked.
“No, and he’s not optimistic about solving the problem anytime soon,” Marc said.
“But he has solved our problem,” Nikola said. “He’s come up with a quantum cable.”
“A what?”
“A quantum cable, it’s like an optical cable, but better,” Nikola said. “He can make them up to five kilometers in length, they have zero delay, and are immune to interference. We’re going to be replacing all the control lines in our spaceplanes and starships with them.”
“How does that solve our problem?” Liz asked.
“Because the Paraxeans would like to have a lot of them.”
“I still don’t understand.”
“Not our Paraxeans, the Paraxeans on Paraxea,” Nikola said. “And they’re willing to trade quantum relays for them.”
“Oh, you have been busy,” Marc said.
“You did ask me to solve the problem.”
“It will solve our problem for now, but won’t they just start making their own cables?” Liz asked.
“You can’t print them, and Dr. Nakahara says that they’ll be difficult to reverse engineer. So we should be able to continue to trade with the Paraxeans, exchanging cables for the relays for a few years,” Nikola said. “Hopefully, Doctor Nakahara will figure out how to make the relays before the Paraxeans figure out how to make the cables.”
“Do we have enough cables to do a trade?” Marc asked.
“We’ve been making them for a few months,” Fred said. “We were planning to refit the Victory with them right away.”
“Can we hold off on that?” Marc asked.
“Yes.”
“Then I think we need to rearrange our first cargo mission. We need to get the relays, or we’ll have to live with gaps in our satellite coverage here on Artemis. And we are marginal in our bandwidth between here and Earth.”
“Okay, so we make a run to Paraxea. That delays our run to Mangkatar by six weeks or so, and pushes you guys out for the same amount of time,” Liz said.
“It would, but I want you to make a loop,” Marc said. “Go to Paraxea first, then come directly here. Then you can go back to Earth and do a run to Mangkatar.”
“That’s a long trip,” Liz said.
“Not if you can get the Paraxeans to swap cargo containers on the fringe,” Catie said.
“That might work,” Liz said. “How much cargo are we talking about?”
“For this exchange, one cargo pod of the cables, the relays would fit in a large suitcase,” Nikola said.
“Okay, I’ll work with Nikola and figure out how to handle the exchange with the Paraxeans. I’ll let you know the timing,” Liz said.
“I want you to leave as soon as possible,” Marc said.
“You’re expecting us to bring colonists out?”
“Yes.”
“Well, this is asking them to be ready to leave six weeks early. I guess we’re set with cabins since we were expecting to ferry a bunch of Paraxean colonists.”
“Hey, they’re all on Delphi Station training,” Samantha said. “I would think they could be ready to leave in a few days.”
“And I get the joy of telling them,” Liz said.
“I can send the message,” Samantha said.
“Please, that might divert some of their frustration,” Liz said.
“Okay. Keep us updated, Liz. Next item,” Marc said. “Fred, how is production?”
“Our standard production is doing fine. Orders are solid, and profits are obscene, but I suspect you want to know about the cabin production?”
“Yes,” Marc said, feeling a bit exasperated.
“We’re keeping up. We completed putting cabins in the last passenger pod yesterday. It’s a good thing that Paraxeans and humans are about the same size since you’re going to be getting their cabins,” Fred said. “We’ve had to hire another two thousand workers to keep up, so that’s another five thousand residents here on the station. Besides building cabins for the pods, we had to rush to complete a lot of the build-out in ring f
our.”
“You mean you finished ring four?” Catie asked incredulously.
“Only about half of it, but that was enough to get everyone housed,” Fred said. “We hope to have it completely built out by March.”
“That sounds like good news. Hopefully we’ll get more services and small businesses going on Delphi Station.”
“You do know we’re having a mini population explosion in Delphi City?” Fred said.
“I’ve heard,” Marc said. “The prime minister is attributing it to the colonists.”
“Yes, who would have thought that attracting colonists for Artemis would result in a big growth in our permanent population,” Blake said.
“How is that happening?” Catie asked.
“It seems that about twenty percent of the people who come here to volunteer as colonists, decide to just become Delphi City residents instead,” Blake explained. “And then, there are the relatives of the colonists who decide to move to Delphi City because they think it will keep them in closer contact with their family on Artemis.”
“Are we able to accommodate all the extra people?” Samantha asked.
“Yes, we’re well ahead in finishing out the condos we’ve already built. There are four more buildings going up, and we’re going to add another line of quads on the south side of the city.”
“Good, good. Blake, how’s your recruitment and training going?” Marc asked.
“We’ve pushed eight hundred through the short Academy course,” Blake said. “Most of them were already part of Delphi Forces, but we got about two hundred new candidates through. Of course that left us exposed, so Catie and Liz could poach eight of our best graduates.”
“You were the ones who said all of our line officers had to be Academy grads.”
“But you’ve even poached a few engineering officers,” Blake added.
“Hey, who else understands our systems, and they were right here,” Catie said.
“Yeah, if we didn’t need that ship of yours to be sailing by next week, I’d yank a few of them back.”
Catie stuck her tongue out at Blake.
“Liz, that brings up the question, will you have sufficient time to train the new crew?”
“They’re training now,” Liz said. “We hired them just before Christmas, gave them two days of orientation, then had them back to training the next week. We’re paying a bonus for the inconvenience.”
“That’s nice of you,” Samantha said.
“It’s all part of our expedited delivery charge,” Liz said.
“How did you know you would be having an expedited cargo to deliver?”
“Fred and Nikola may have mentioned something,” Liz said.
About thirty minutes later Marc moved to close the meeting. “Okay, so production and sales are good. We’re growing. We’re establishing trade with the Paraxeans, Catie’s poaching our trained officers and crew; anything else we need to discuss?”
“I think we’ve covered everything.”
“Good, have fun everyone. Meeting’s over.”
Chapter 4
The Dutchman and The Princess
Catie and two hundred first- and second-class cadets stood on the dock looking at the four clipper ships. Even though they were clipper ships, only the foremast had square sails, the other three masts were set up so they could mimic square sails by going wing on wing with the two gaff sails on their mast. Catie was studying the layout of the sails when a foghorn blew to get everyone’s attention.
“Your Comms have your ship and cabin assignment; get aboard your ship, stow your gear and be on deck in five minutes!” yelled the big sailor who seemed to be in charge. The previous week, each cadet had been told what to bring for gear, and what time to show up at the dock. That was it, no other hints about what to prepare for.
Catie scrambled onto the Delphi Princess. “I wonder if Uncle Blake thought it would be funny to put me on the Princess,” Catie thought. She saw that she was in a cabin with four bunks, meaning three roommates, “Wonderful!”
Once she made it back on deck, she moved over to the group that was standing around the wheel. She assumed they were there because the four sailors standing there looked like they knew what they were doing.
Cadet Colonel Miranda Cordova came up from below and walked over to the group. “What are we supposed to do next?” she asked.
“Wait,” the sailor with the hat said.
Miranda rolled her eyes; she wasn’t used to being told to wait.
The foghorn blasted across the dock again.
“Listen up,” the sailor with the hat shouted. “The race starts now. You have two weeks to sail the course, first ship back wins.” He crossed his arms and gave everyone a smug look.
“How do we sail her?” Miranda asked.
“Don’t look at us. We’re just here to make sure you don’t sink her and that nobody gets hurt . . . too badly.”
All the cadets looked at each other in shock. “We’re supposed to just figure it out,” someone gasped.
“Alright, who’s sailed before?!” Miranda shouted.
Cadet Mayhew, a small second-class cadet, looked around and eventually raised his hand when no one else did.
“What did you sail? And how much?” Miranda demanded.
“My grandparents own a forty-six-foot Oceanis; I’ve been sailing since I was five.”
“Anyone else?!”
“No? Then, Mayhew, you’re our sailing master, get over here!” Miranda ordered. “Anyone else have some experience sailing a ship like this?”
Cadet Bradley raised his hand. “Ma’am, I’ve never sailed, but I’ve read a lot of books about sailing in the eighteenth century.”
Miranda looked at Cadet Mayhew.
“How do you tell how fast the ship is sailing?” Mayhew asked.
“You toss a line over the side after you flip the thirty-second glass, then count knots until the sand runs out,” Bradley replied.
“We can use him,” Mayhew said.
“Okay, Bradley, you’re the assistant sailing master. Anyone know how to navigate?”
Cadet Mayhew raised his hand again. Catie looked around, and since no one else was raising their hand, she raised hers.
“MacGregor, what’s your experience?”
“I’ve navigated a yacht around the ocean,” Catie said. “I learned to take sightings with a sextant to figure out our position for fun, and I’m good at math.”
Cadet Mayhew nodded his head.
“MacGregor, you’re our navigator. Get to the navigation cabin and start charting a course. Now, come on, some of you have to have been on a sailboat before!”
Several other cadets raised their hands.
“Okay, you, you’ve got the foremast, first watch; you,” she yelled, pointing to another, “you’ve got it for second watch,” Miranda continued to yell out commands as she selected each of the eight cadets, dividing them between shifts for each of the masts.
“Okay, we need a cook!”
“I can cook, I’ve done a lot of camping,” one of the cadets offered.
“Good, you’re our cook. Go to the galley and make sure we have enough food for two weeks!” In short order, Miranda had all forty-nine cadets assigned to the various jobs that she had decided they needed to fill. Everyone just assumed she would be the captain.
Miranda turned to the older sailor, “Will you guys answer direct questions?”
“Generally,” he answered.
“Thanks. Mayhew, start training the crews for each mast. Take one of these guys with you and ask questions on anything you don’t understand.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Catie was in the navigation cabin. She had found the charts and was trying to figure out which ones she needed. There was a note that said that the race course ran from Delphi City to the Pitcairn Islands and back to Delphi City. It also noted that they were supposed to make the circuit within two weeks. Catie measured the distances on the chart. In order to sail t
he route in two weeks, they needed to average over ten knots or better for the entire two weeks. “But that assumes we’re sailing in a straight line, which sailing ships don’t do,” Catie thought. She checked the wind charts and plotted a course that took best advantage of the wind; it meant they were traveling farther, but she hoped that the wind would allow them to make at least twelve knots instead of ten.
Catie made her way back on deck to consult with Mayhew and Miranda about their course. She could see two of the schooners already starting to pull away from the dock.
“What do you need, MacGregor?” Miranda asked.
“I’ve got a few questions about navigation.”
“Talk to Mayhew.”
“Ma’am,” the cook said, coming back on deck right behind Catie.
“Yes, Aquino, what do you want?”
“We have enough water, but there’s only a few days’ food,” Cadet Aquino said.
“Where do we get our food from?” Miranda asked the sailor with the hat.
He smiled and pointed to the warehouse on the dock.
“Bradley, form up a team and go get our provisions, take the cook with you!”
◆ ◆ ◆
“Catie, can you talk?” Liz messaged.
“Yes,” Catie replied. She was alone in the navigation cabin.
“How are we supposed to lift all this freight up to the Dutchman? Do you realize that one of those cargo pods carries as much as most cargo ships?”
“Of course I do. You have to maximize the cargo if you’re going to make any money. To answer your question, I had Ajda build a special Skylifter to take the pods into orbit. It’s basically four big grav drives, four fusion reactors, one for each drive, and a cockpit,” Catie said.
“So?” Liz quizzed.
“It will lift one of the cargo pods, even if it were full of iron,” Catie said.
“Must be some big grav drives.”
“Yeah, the biggest,” Catie said.
“How much did that cost us?” Liz asked. She knew they’d already spent the four hundred million they’d started with and were now borrowing money to get their company going; of course they were borrowing the money from Catie. Samantha had asked to invest, and Liz wondered when Catie would suggest they take her up on it.