A Greater Interest: Samair in Argos: Book 4 (34 page)

              “Tamara Samair had a lot of hard decisions to make,” Carriger agreed.  “She was the female on the spot, so we can sit out here on the orbital and second guess her all day long, but in the end, we weren’t there.  We weren’t the ones making the decisions.  Samair had to do the best she could at the time with the resources she had on hand.”

              “But that isn’t going to happen again,” the Triarch interjected.  “The admin council is going to be appointing a government representative to oversee national interests in the outer system.  Also, we’ll be sending additional naval resources there to supplement the ships that are already out there.”

              “You’re going to pull ships from from defense of the planet?”  The reporter actually seemed aghast.  “So instead of the blunder on the head of a civilian executive, you’re going to take full responsibility yourselves?  You’d strip the planet of its defenses?”

              The two council members shared a look.  “We have a whole series of new Navy ships being constructed, including a host of corvettes through some of the engineering firms here planetside.  A few of those ships will be sent to the outer system to patrol because those are Seylonique citizens out there, not just employees from a company that happens to operate in this star system.  Those are our people out there.  We need to make sure they’re protected.”

              Vanessa gave a shining smile.  “Good to see that the admin council is taking charge as well as responsibility.  I know I feel a great deal safer.”

              The two councilors stared at her for a long moment, trying to decide whether she was being serious or sarcastic.  Then Carriger gave a nod.  “We are entrusted with the safety and prosperity of this system.  The
system
, not ourselves, despite what some blaggards might try to suggest.”  She gave Vanessa a very piercing look, flashing fangs.  The reporter swallowed hard, any trace of her regular smug confidence vanished.  But an instant later the lupusan’s face returned to normal and the sudden chill in the air went away. 

              Vanessa took several seconds to compose herself; Kozen’ck turned his head in the direction of the lupusan and his antennae flicked a warning.  The wolf woman shrugged and looked back to the human woman, who had recovered.  She cleared her throat.  “Yes, well.  Ahem.  I’m glad to see that there are decent people running our star system.”

              “There have always been decent people running this star system,” Kozen’ck replied, but it appeared that he’d gone one step too far, if Vanessa’s grimace was any indication.

              “So we’re really going to be sending someone out to the gas giant to represent the admin council?” Carriger asked, some time later, after the reporter, her cameras had left… and the various surveillance devices she’d tried to leave behind had been discovered and swept up.

              Kozen’ck clacked his mouthparts.  “When I said it to Ms. Marchant, I only meant it as a PR piece as a way of showing that the council is looking out for the long-term interests of the star system.  But now that I’ve had time to think about it, it isn’t a bad idea.  It’ll keep Samair toeing the line a bit more and give us a better idea of what’s actually happening out there.  Besides, keeping Greer on a shorter leash can’t be a bad thing.”

              “I’ll second that,” Carriger replied.  “That man always seems like he’s perfectly at home on that ship of his, but he always…”

              “Gives you the creeps?”

              “Just a bit,” the lupusan admitted.  “But, until Gants gets back, he is the best we’ve got.”

              “That’s why I sent
Curroth
out to the outer system.  I wanted to be sure we had the gas mine covered.”  Kozen’ck stood and began to pace slowly around the conference table.  “But I was serious.  We’re going to have to take this to the council, see if we can find a suitable candidate.”

              But Carriger didn’t even hesitate.  “Look no further.  I want to volunteer.”

              The zheen halted his pacing for a moment.  “You’re serious?  You want to volunteer to leave the planet and the orbital and all of the scheming and plotting to go out there?”

              She barked a laugh.  “I can do with a break from all of the wheeling and dealing, yes.  Besides, if you think that going to the Kutok mine, or even staying on one of the Navy ships is going to be less stressful than staying here you’ve clearly not been paying attention.”

              The zheen studied her for a long moment, his antennae waving in the air, his mouthparts moving.  “You’re sure you want to do this?  Because I know Cresswell wouldn’t want to do it.  Neither would Kly or Chakrabarti.”

              She looked amused.  “There are other members of the admin council you know.  And anyone who gets chosen for the job doesn’t even need to be a member of the council to be our representative out there.”

              His mouthparts writhed.  “You’re really going to suggest that we nominate someone other than a council member to go out there and represent
our
interests?”

              Carriger flicked her ears.  “No, of course not.  There are a handful I would trust to report back to us as our agent to keep an eye on things, but none that I would trust to represent us.”

              He paused for a moment.  “So you’re really going to do this?”

              The lupusan glared at him.  “I’m not giving up my council seat, if that’s what you’re implying.”

              Kozen’ck chittered.  “I
was
starting to get worried.  You were making it sound as though you were going swanning off to the outer system leaving the real work to the rest of us.”

              “I’ll just be a transmission away and three days away by fast ship if you need me for some important vote or conference or something.  So don’t you dare think that you’re going to leave me out of something just because I’m out at the gas giant.  I’ll be taking a staff with me.”

              “Your own,” he said.

              She nodded.  “Of course my own.  And as far as the others are concerned, hey, the three on the battlecruiser didn’t didn’t have to leave for Ulla-tran and the others didn’t want to be interviewed by that backstabbing snake of a reporter.”  Carriger shrugged.  “Their loss.”

              He buzzed with laughter.  “I guess so.  When will you leave?”

              “In two weeks,” she replied without hesitation.  “The first of the new corvettes will be ready.  I’ll ride out on that ship; the second one will be ready five days after that.”

              “Might make more of an impression if you were to arrive with two ships instead of having them trickle in.”

              She grinned.  “You see, Kozen’ck, ideas like that are why you are the Triarch and the rest of us are not.”

              “They’re doing what?” Tamara demanded, putting a hand to her forehead. 

              “I’m only relaying what has been told to me, Tamara,” Galina replied.  They were seated in one of the conference rooms on the Kutok mine, where Tamara had been overseeing the rebuilding of the refueling piers and the tank farm which was nearly finished.  The regular maintenance had been completed on all of the processing sectors aboard the mine and fuel was pumping up from the atmosphere and through those sectors and into the station’s tanks.  From there, the shuttles and the larger fuel tender would bring it up out of the atmosphere and to the tank farm, which was building up a healthy reserve in the completed containment pods.  There had been talk of spinning up long hoses made of carbon nanofiber that would extend down from the tank farm to the mine, which would make the transfer of the fuel much easier, but that was a project for another time.

              “The council has decided to take a greater interest in what happens out here,” the lupusan said.  “Apparently they’ve decided to take a more active role in what we’re doing as well as the lives and welfare of their citizens on the far part of the system.  Which means that they’re sending one of their own out here to ‘oversee’ things.”

              “And what the hell does that exactly mean?” she demanded, throwing her hands in the air.

              “It means what it means, Tamara,” the lupusan said calmly, folding her hands and settling more comfortably in her chair.  “I don’t think that whoever gets sent out here will try to get too involved in the day to day operations out here, not if they don’t want to get you pissed off.”

              “I’m already pissed off,” Tamara groused.

              Galina looked amused.  “Calm yourself, Tamara.  They’re the admin council.  They’re just something we need to deal with.  And if they start to get too uppity or pushy, I’m sure you’re capable enough to distract them with something shiny.”

              “Something shiny?” Tamara replied, a smile making its way through her funk.  Then it hit her.  “Like a really big ball of soon to be steel?”

              Galina shrugged.  “That would seem to be a good start.  And all things considered, the big flying shield
is
a good idea.  If you can make it work.”

              Tamara gave her a sour look.  “After all this time, after everything I’ve managed to accomplish and you still doubt whether I can make it work?”

              “Just checking,” she replied with an ear flick.  Then she sobered.  “I assume everything is still on schedule?”

              Tamara nodded.  “Yes.  The heaters are done and busy melting down the asteroids, we’ll start slowly bringing in the components.”  It had taken some fast talking and more than a few credits to get quantities of the trace compounds needed from some of the mines and quarries on the planet surface.  Three
Testudo
shuttles loaded down with the compounds were making their way across the system, only needing to wait for the molten ball of iron to be fully separated out.  The newsies, strangely enough, hadn’t wanted to get aboard a ship and come to the outer system, though perhaps it was more that none of the ship captains wanted one of those bloodsuckers aboard her ship to bring any of them out.  It was only a matter of time, though, before one or more of the news agencies decided that getting a crew out here was in their best interests and it wasn’t as though Tamara could ban them.  While some areas were off limits, there were public areas on the Kutok mine that anyone could go to and once someone higher up (or a reporter looking for a scoop) figured that out and secured passage, the game would truly be over.

              Five days later, an advance party from the government arrived, having booked passage to the mine on one of the passenger liners that traversed the system every few weeks.  A rat faced little man, clearly an officious little toady had stepped off the transport and made a beeline straight for Tiyaana Moreetz’s office.  No one seemed to know what to do with him, and he kept brandishing a slip of flimsi denoting his authority as an aide to a member of the admin council, so within less than an hour he’d gotten himself a meeting with the manager of the mine.  Five minutes after that, he’d booked a suite (one of the three suites) in the living quarters of the station, to be used as living quarters and offices for the councilor.  It didn’t take long for Tamara to get wind of it and she made a trip over to the mine, forcing her to change all sorts of plans to meet up with her new guards at the shipyard, which in turn forced
them
to have to seek other transportation to come out and meet her.

              Tamara sat in one of the conference rooms, her arms crossed over her chest, trying very hard not to scowl.  The little man thought himself impressive; that was clear from his posture, his tone and other mannerisms.  “Now see here, Tamara,” the man went on, his use of her given name proof of his lack of respect.  “Councilor Hroth will be coming out here in less than a month and she will be setting up offices here.  I need to be sure that everything is perfect for her arrival so that there is a smooth transition.”

              “Lorimar,” she said, using
his
first name.  “I understand-“

              But he held up a hand, cutting her off.  “You may address me as Undersecretary Wyatt.”

              She pasted on a smile.  “Then you may address me as Captain Samair.  You are, after all, on my company’s station and you’re looking for me to get things done.”

              “A useless title,” the man scoffed.  “You are a captain of no ship.”

              Her smile remained fixed.  “Then clearly your information sources are lacking, Undersecretary.  I went through and passed the company’s qualifications for Captain quite some time ago and as far as having a ship, well,
that
is a matter of public record. 
Moxie-2
might not be hyper capable, but she’s no longer a company asset.  I purchased her outright from the company several months ago.  Captain Eamonn has been gracious enough to let me continue to use company resources to keep her fueled and maintained, but that ship is mine.”  She let the smile drop.  “Now, may we dispense with the bull?”

              The man growled.  “Yes, I would expect that’s best.  Now as I was saying, the Councilor will be here soon and I need to make sure things are ready.”