13 Degrees of Separation (37 page)

He'd made a hash of things, he acknowledged his obvious
mistakes. He'd taken too much of a fist approach, now bridges were burnt, now
the enemy was aware someone was stalking them. Yan Fu had said repeatedly that
the best offense was to turn one's opponent against them, thus undoing them.
Yan was a master of the subtle approach, taking years to sometimes achieve a
goal. Kennet however freely admitted he didn't have that level of patience even
after centuries of trying to achieve it.

Without that guiding force, that covering persona Kennet
was becoming more and more aware of just how far out on a limb he was. He had
to break the rules, break the law in order to stop the dogs though! What else
was he supposed to do? Besides, he was a station councilor! Some things could
be overlooked, he was after all looking out for the benefit of all not a bunch
of would be barbarian misfits!

He turned, writhing in the code stream as he tried to
figure out what move to try next.

...*...*...*...*...

The team worked on the planned base and yard, starting with
their basic slip. It was the same design as the one the admiral had had built a
year ago. An octagonal cylinder, 900 meters in diameter, and over 3 kilometers
long. It was designed to handle ships of small or medium class. Bulk freighters
like the Kiev could fit in her, but they'd be a tight squeeze indeed.

Each octagon would be 900 meters away from the others. Each
octagon would be made up of truss segments that were also octagons cylinders,
these were 4 meters in diameter. The cylinders were 685 meters long and set on
a 22.5 degree angle from each other to form the octagon. Within each truss
segment wiring, duct work, sensors, communication links, tractors, lights, and
data lines were set up.

Since they were new and only Petunia had experience the
project was slow going, but as the others picked up experience and began to
move and act like veteran spacers the project started to start to come
together. She'd had 2 all hands on deck shifts to make sure they knew what to
do and then reluctantly she'd had Olaf the only other person with space
experience stand down with Yuri the Veraxin, and Reggie. They'd come on shift
when Petunia's 3 man crew finished their 12 hour shift. They still had a little
way to go so she was going to try to make the most of it.

They were starting to get a sort of competition going, who
could get the most done in a shift. It was a friendly competition, fun, more
for bragging rights than for anything else. Still, she had no intention of
coming in second.

The stationers and corporations were still a problem, they
seemed perpetually pissed about the Yard Dog's new plan. That was tough cookies
for them. They were finally getting their act together and hopefully some
people would take notice.

Their first ring was a pain in the ass to get together, but
when they were finished they had an octagon ring 900 meters in diameter. Now
that they had the skills and the truss factory had a steady supply of processed
material they were shooting for one ring a shift, maybe more. “One down, a
dozen or so to go,” Petunia said, smiling. She gave her crew a thumbs up as
they groaned. “Hey, cheer up, now that we know how to do it the next one should
go easier.”

“What the hell is this for anyway?” Brock asked, shaking
his head.

“It's the Slip. It's a scaffold that goes around a ship.
Big ass cylinder. We'll hang all sorts of stuff like lights and stuff on the
inside, all to help us see. Same deal as that platform Kiara's on,” she pointed
to the white platform Kaira was standing on. She was the smallest of their
triumvirate and also a rigger. She was finishing up the wiring of the truss.
Not that it needed to be done now, but it was all plug and play. She just
spliced a cable end with the appropriate attachment and then plugged it in to a
socket and then covered it in insulation. We've got to watch it though, right
now it's delicate, vulnerably to torsional stress. Too much and she'll snap
somewhere and we'll have to fix it.”

“Oh.”

“So... don't get cute about moving it around or bumping
into it. At least not until we've got at least a couple of them linked
together,” Petunia explained. She turned to the truss factory. It was already
making the next piece. She smiled once more as her brown eyes checked her HUD.
They had about twenty minutes before that segment was finished. Once they had
the scaffolding up they planned to use the wire maker to make guy wires for
additional strength.

At least, that was the plan she thought as she turned to
watch Brock and Kiara floating there doing nothing. Apparently Kiara was
finished. That simply wouldn't do. “What are you two doing sitting there? Go
check the input, make sure there aren't any problems. Then when you're done
that tank up and recharge, we've got more work to do! I don't want Olaf to have
bragging rights! Chop chop!”

“Roger,” Brock said, sighing fatalistically as he turned.
His maneuvering pack fired and he moved off to the factory assembly.

...*...*...*...*...

Savo saw what the double shifts and 7 day week did to Mairi
and the space workers after the second week. Mistakes were being made, common
ones that was pissing some of the crews off. Petunia and some of the other
space hands were burning the candle at both ends, working on the Yard Dog
projects on their off time and they were growing increasingly testing and
klutzy.

Over their objections he insisted on a single day off for
rest and recovery. Petunia was a bit put out by the order but stopped objecting
after Savo leered. She turned away, chuffing a laugh. “should have known,” she
kept saying.

At odds and not sure what to do with her free time Mairi
stuffed her hands in her pockets and hung around the berth until Harif confronted
her. They talked small talk for a bit before he enticed her off to lunch.

Mairi struck up a slow but deepening relationship with
Harif. The flutter he induced in her, the flush and glow... she recognized the
signs of love, or at least lust. She was scared though, she'd never ever
trusted anyone close to her other than her mother.

He's a nice guy though, a bit of an ass on first
impression, but her first. He's surprised by her admission. She was shy about
it, he however was smug at having her on his belt, whatever that meant. He
introduced her to dating and eventually love making. She was in heaven, now
understanding a bit about her mother and the hormonal forces that drove her to
do what she did.

Occasionally Harif would ambush her while they repaired the
Bitch. It was one of his favorite games but the first time she had reacted in
fright, nearly breaking his skull with a wrench. He was scared off until she
explained why. That made him sit with her and talk for a while. She eventually
leaned against him and he put his arm around her.

Later that evening he took her to a club to dance. She was
surprised by the lights and people but after a couple of drinks and his
encouragement they got into it. They stumbled back to his apartment drunk hours
later and made love. It took time for her to learn how to react, to learn about
role playing. Soft sensual caresses were explored. It was a night she would
never forget.

...*...*...*...*...

Alice had their first inquiry for product sales. It was
unusual, they didn't advertise making products, though they were quite capable
of it. Normally however they went to a potential client with a proposal or bid
on an open proposal. Still she took the call. She set up a meeting, planning it
for a week in the future or whenever the client was on station and it was
convenient for them. However she was surprised and a bit taken aback when the
woman a miss Chelsea Star told her that she and her partner were on station now
and would like an immediate presentation.

Shocked but willing to go forward with it, Alice rushed
home to change and then asked Clio to rent a conference room from the station
to do the dog and pony show.

Miss Star presented her companion Mr. Smythe when they made
introductions. Mr. Smythe told Alice that they represented a start up
interested in breaking into the space market. Alice nodded politely, cataloging
the information as they shook hands. They politely made small talk before they
settled down across the table from one another. Alice was nervous, but kept to
her script. She had them sign a basic NDA. Mr. Smythe seemed put out by that,
but he signed the agreement and provided his thumb print with only minimum
hesitation. The couple was quiet, just listening to her presentation about the
company. She used a holo projector to show their plan of the first slip.

Mr. Smythe nodded and then murmured a question, leaning
over to his companion. Miss Stars echoed it. “What else can you do? We're
interested in product manufacturing,” she said. Alice was afraid she was losing
their interest.

“We can do product manufacturing,” Alice admitted. “Our
charter limits us to manufactured products or equipment for vehicles, vessels,
and space stations or platforms, but it can be extended to space colonies.”

“Really?” Miss Star asked, now showing new interest.

Alice talked with them. She admitted to some project ideas,
she was so jazzed she started listing them. Some were things they were doing
already, such as robots and station support. But others were more complex and
in some ways radical, simple space structures like space stations, platforms,
and moon bases.

When she finished the man and woman thanked her, they shook
hands and told her they would get back to her. “Mr. Smythe, now where have I
heard that name before?” Alice murmured, gathering her things together. Clio
had sat in for the conference but hadn't interacted with the organics,
preferring to stay out of it to let Alice get some seasoning with the job.
After Mr. Smythe and Miss Star left Clio became suspicious and checked the
station net. She identified the woman right off as a social climber from her
social media website. Her name was Jenifer Roberts, not Star. The male it
turned out worked for a rival industrial corporation, Rinwerks.  A cross
reference search of the woman's public profile turned up an electronic post
about how she was so excited to get a job for Rinwerks.

Gently, the AI broke the news to the board at their next
meeting. Alice was pissed when she heard the news. After that they vetted each
person before talking to them, and didn't give them any ideas, just listened to
what they wanted.

...*...*...*...*...

On one of their mandatory days off Harif took Mairi out to
the water park. It was an incredible experience for her, something she both
dreaded and was excited about. She'd never seen such water, and the deep parts
looked downright scary. The slides looked fun though. The one where people slid
down almost vertical had her quivering in fright. She had to be fitted for a
bathing suit, but once she picked out a red poke-dot bikini and changed she
became shy and self conscious. She'd never shown this much skin before and she
was self conscious, she felt like she was in her underwear. Something Harif
enjoyed teasing her about unmercifully.

She finally retaliated by splashing him. He guffawed and
splashed back, which turned into a water fight in the shallows. She ended up
laughing in his arms when they were through.

She fell in love with the water slides, though swimming
wasn't her thing. Water was okay as long as it wasn't beyond her knees. Harif
showed off in the surfing area before he came over carrying towels. He dried
her off with a soft towel, making her smile... and then blush a deep red as
some of his caressing got entirely too personal.

“Down boy,” she said, smiling but feeling her ear tips
burn. “Save it for later,” she growled. He chuckled.

They rented a cabana and lazed under it while picking at a
lunch. To Mairi's amusement the Taurens were in the next cabana over. Gwen came
over and knelt next to her. “Something I can help you with?” Mairi finally
asked, annoyed at the interruption but curious about the Tauren. She had met
only a handful of surviving aliens in Senka, the damn pirates hunted them down
even more ruthlessly than other humans.

“Yes, I was wondering, how did you become pilot of the
tug?”

“The Bitch?” Mairi asked amused. “You can say the name you
know,” she said smiling and picking up a fake grape. She masticated it,
glancing at Harif. He too seemed amused. “The answer,” she swallowed. “The answer
is my granddad. He was the pilot before me, and he'd take me in the Bitch in
his lap and show me all the controls, how they worked and stuff like that. He
showed me how to do maintenance on her and stuff.”

“Oh.”

“Pretty neat?” Harif asked.

“You could say that. I'm smart, very smart. I have an edict
memory and a high IQ he said. I'm also good with my depth perception and
spacial recognition. Navigation,” she smiled and then shrugged.

“Quit bragging,” Harif teased. She snorted.

“Granddad was a great guy. But he got into a stupid bar
fight and got a shiv in his stomach. Mom was useless,” she said in disgust,
remembering how her mother moaned and cried about what to do but did absolutely
nothing. “Granddad was dying, he was bleeding out and mom's debtors were
knocking on the door. I took the Bitch out and did a run solo.”