AMP Rebellion (7 page)

After landing at Omrin, George got to work with his manufacturing contacts. Factories on Omrin were capable of turning out 2,000 standard ion generators a month. It was a pace far below what was needed. I sat beside George at a table in the office of Goran Harm. He commanded the largest manufacturing facility on Omrin.

George spoke, "Goran, we need the power equivalent of 40,000 standard generators. What are our options?"

Goran replied, "Hmmm, 40,000. That is enough to power a city the size of our capital here. As always, I will not inquire as to your end use. Have you considered a base generator? I can show you the one we have here powering this factory. It will provide you with 212 times the power of a standard. While it is substantially more expensive than a standard, the cost per SGU (Standard Generation Unit) will be less due to the economies of scale."

George leaned on the table with his elbows. "What are your production capabilities for these?"

Goran thought for a moment. "We only build one or two a month at present. That is all we have demand for. It is being constructed on our newest factory line. I believe we could ramp production up rather quickly to 24 base units per month with a signed contract and substantial down payment. Would eight months be a satisfactory timeframe for manufacturing?"

George pulled back. "We have a need that is as soon as possible."

Goran’s assistant leaned in and whispered to his boss. Goran stood and spoke, "Come with me. I would like to show you some of our current research."

We followed Goran and his assistant down a long hallway that eventually led to his research facilities. We stood in a control room with a glass wall as a number of scientists milled about doing various tasks on the other side.

Goran pressed a button on a mic. "Attention. I have a special guest with me today that I would like to demonstrate the ion pulse-flex generation experiment to. Please cease all activities and focus on this demonstration. If all goes well we may have a partner who will assist in turning this technology into a viable product."

Goran turned to us and spoke, "Please have a seat. This will only take a short time to organize and show. I believe you may be pleased with what we may be able to offer."

I spoke, "May be able to offer? That sounds like you are only in the early stages of development."

Goran replied, "Yes. That would be a true statement. However, my engineers have the plans for this prototype in place and are eager to build a full size pulse-flex generator. I will say up front, there is a stability issue that we have yet to resolve, but our chief designer feels that once the generator is scaled up that will not be an issue."

George spoke, "What kind of capacity are we talking about for a single unit?"

An engineer tapped on the glass and turned back towards a black square module of two meters in height.

Goran raised his hand. "They are ready. Let us begin."

Goran gave a wave to a technician standing at a console and various knobs were pushed and buttons pressed. A noticeable vibration could be felt as the generator came online. Goran again raised his hand and the tech turned a knob. The vibration began to grow as the power indicator increased. At 50 SGUs the generator vibration was smooth and steady.

Goran again raised his hand. The technician hesitated and once again turned the knob to the right. The vibrations increased as the power output moved up to 100 SGUs. I could almost feel my back teeth clattering against each other as the entire research facility shook.

Goran then looked at the technician. "Mr. Harrif, please apply the pulse-flex signal."

The technician placed his finger just above a large red button. He appeared apprehensive.

Goran spoke in a loud voice, "Mr. Harrif! Please apply the pulse-flex signal!"

Harrif looked out through the glass towards a waiting engineer. The engineer gave a tepid nod to proceed. The red button was pressed and in an instant the power output of the experimental generator ramped up to more than 300 SGUs. Goran turned and smiled.

He then spoke loudly over the increasing vibrational hum, "Our full scale generator should deliver almost 50 times the power of this prototype! Imagine 15,000 SGUs out of a generator the size of that room!"

The vibrations continued to grow as the power meter read 14,856 SGUs. I looked over to a very nervous technician and then back at the generation unit. I began to wonder what held it in place.

Goran spoke, "Gentlemen, let us return to the comfort of my office."

As I stood and turned towards the door the generator began to buck violently as one of the heavy bolts holding it to the floor gave way. The technicians began to scramble in an attempt to shut the unit down. Scientists and engineers ran for cover as the generator began to separate from its pad. Goran remained calm, escorting us from the room. As the door closed behind me there was a loud boom and the building shook.

Goran spoke, "Please do not be concerned with the noise. We have had the same stability issue each time we applied the pulse-flex signal."

I replied, "That generator just tore loose from its moorings. You may have lost people back there!"

Goran continued with his same calm voice, "Mr. Grange. We risk our lives every day, sometimes just by walking in the street, other times by what we consume. We have yet to lose a worker while conducting these pulse-flex experiments. Please do not concern yourself with our safety standards, we take them very seriously."

George placed his hand on my shoulder as we walked. "Don’t pay him any mind Goran. He doesn’t have much experience in the manufacturing world."

George turned towards me. "These are extreme power levels Don. They can be difficult to control."

After being seated in Goran’s office George spoke, "So, we will need at least three of these scaled up units. How long before they would be ready for pickup?"

Goran eagerly squirmed in his chair. "There is the important aspect of finance to be discussed. We must negotiate a price."

George leaned towards Goran’s desk. "We want the Generators Goran. How much do you want and when can we have them?"

Goran patted his fingers together as he smiled. "We will have to acquire the materials first. Then there is the facility. We will…."

George raised his voice, "Goran! Give me a price and a date! We need this technology immediately. I will sign whatever confidentiality agreements you want. We will even allow your engineers to come with us to monitor the generators use so that you can benefit from its further development. Give me some numbers!"

Goran nodded. "Very well Sir. I will draw up the contracts immediately so that the process can begin. I believe we can have your generators ready in 45 days. Payment of course will have to be made in advance."

George settled back in his chair. "I will see to it that you receive a substantial enough forward of credits to construct the generators Goran. We will be expecting them in precisely 45 days."

Goran scribbled down a few notes and sent his assistant scurrying away with them.

Goran spoke, "We will meet the deadline for the three generators. If you have any other needs, please do not hesitate to contact me directly."

With that our meeting ended. George moved quickly down the hall to the building’s lobby and hailed a local transport. Our next stop was to a large metals and commodity supply business. Frig’s antennas required a precise alloy mixture and manufacturing process. Moog Riovan, had the raw materials and the technological knowhow needed to construct the giant antennas. Moog’s office sat on a tall spire, overlooking his vast boneyards of scrap metal and raw materials.

As we looked out of the office windows on Moog’s business empire, George spoke, "Moog, we have the need for a large number of very big antennae. I have the specifications here and would like to know when you can get started on their manufacture."

Moog held up his hands. "Whoa George, let’s chat for a bit. I’m sure business can wait for a few minutes."

George quickly replied, "Sorry Moog, but we really do not have time. This is a critical need. I would like to know when you might have the antennae in the diagrams ready for pickup."

Moog apologized and pressed the comm button on his desk. "Krill, please send in Jeop Bool. This is an immediate need so please have him hurry if possible."

With that Moog looked up at George. "Again… my apologies. I will have Jeop look over your needs after which I should be able to provide you with an answer."

Jeop Bool soon entered the room. He was tall and lanky for an Omrin. The ridge running across his forehead, just above his eyes, had a bright red glow to it. It was an obvious sign of an Omrin being nervous.

Moog spoke, "Jeop, please look over the client’s drawings. We need a quick estimate on how long it will take to manufacture these antennae. Take a moment and please offer your best evaluation."

Jeop fumbled through the papers provided, nodding his head and running his left hand through the thick brown fur on his chest. An awful stench quickly filled the room.

Jeop looked up with an embarrassed expression on his face. "My apologies."

Moog spoke, "Jeop. Please take the diagrams into the outer office and review them there."

The embarrassed engineer quickly left the room. "He is the best engineer I have, but he comes with a psycho/physiological impediment. When he gets nervous he passes gas. If you noticed he was stroking his chest fur, it was an attempt to calm himself."

I spoke, "I would have to say that was an epic fail. That is an almost toxic smell!"

George stepped into the conversation. "We are in immediate need of the antennae in question Moog. Expense is not an issue. And we will need 1,200 of these."

Moog sat up in his chair. "1,200! That is a large array George. I will have to see if I have the materials readily available. I wish you had given some advance notice of your needs."

George replied, "You and me both Moog. We only learned of this a few days ago, but our need is urgent."

When Jeop returned Moog hit him up with the 1,200 number. A timeframe of six weeks was settled upon giving us access to the antenna at a time similar to the pulse-flex ion generators.

As we exited Moog’s business to hail a cab I caught sight of a figure standing in the shadows of an alley across the street. It was a cloaked figure that quickly turned and moved away. I wasn’t sure, but my instincts told me that it was a Durian.

I grabbed George by the arm as a transport pulled up. "Let’s pay Moog another visit. I think I just saw a Durian and I think he was tailing us. We need a cover story for those antennae for Moog to pass along to anyone who is interested. We’ll tell him to say that it’s for a deep space sensor array we are building. That should send them in a wrong enough direction."

George replied as we walked back into the building. "If that was a Durian, we will need to leave in another manner. If he makes our ship he could follow us back to the others. We need to leave quickly and quietly before he has a chance to organize."

The cover story was given to Moog and Jeop. They agreed to only give the phony information up after a struggle, and for a generous amount of compensation. If the Durians wanted the information, the difficulty they would have in obtaining it would at least add to its perceived legitimacy and value.

Moog spoke, "Follow me. I will take you to my private garage. A company transport will be waiting to take you wherever you like. I will drop a story that you requested to be taken to the main government offices, but the driver dropped you on the street before arrival at the destination. It is not a deep cover, but it should be sufficient to rid you of any tail. I have had dealings with the Durians once several years ago. I do not trust them, or their motives."

I replied, "Whatever you do, do not allow them on your premises. They will leave micro-bugs everywhere and will know every in and out of your business. Thank you for your assistance today Moog. I will see to it that you receive the means necessary to sniff out their bugs. It may come in handy as they expand their influence in this sector."

Our transport lifted out of Moog’s garage and made its way towards the main government buildings. Two avenues before our arrival the transport dropped us on the street corner. A new transport was hailed and we made our way back to our hangar at the capital space port. As we approached the entrance to the hangar George spotted two suspicious characters milling about.

George grabbed my arm and spoke, "Don, come this way. Our hangar is being watched."

George pulled me to the side, out of view of the hangar entryway.

I whispered, "If they are with the Durians we may not make it back to the ship."

George replied, "We will make it back. I have been in and out of this port enough times to know who I can trust and how I can leave quietly. I just need to make a few comm calls."

George turned and quietly spoke on his comm link. After several minutes a port patrolman came over to the two men and began to question them. They revealed government badges and the patrolman nodded and moved on about his duties.

George huffed and leaned against a back wall. "Government agents will make this difficult. The people I deal with will not get involved if I am already hot. They have to live here and heat from those agents could make their lives miserable."

I replied, "How do we get on that ship?"

George thought for a moment and spoke, "We need a diversion. It may not be an original or inventive idea, but if it gets us on that ship it won’t matter. We need to find two teen Omrins. I will pay them a handsome sum to run to the agents yelling about Humans acting suspiciously in the restroom. If they are like most, they will take the bait and abandon their post. That will be our chance to sneak by."

I replied, "And if they don’t leave?"

George smiled, "Then I am out a few hundred credits and we look for another way."

I pulled out my blaster and George grabbed my hand. "We don’t want to use those. We would never have the chance to pick up our generators or antennae. These are Omrin government agents not Durians. They are merely being used by the Durians to make our lives difficult. We do not want to kill innocents."