First Principles: Samair in Argos: Book 3 (11 page)

              Sterling was also a talented engineer and Tamara had brought her with her when she left the
Grania Estelle
to start building up FP Inc’s infrastructure.  When she had switched to captain of the
Cavalier
, Eretria had stepped into her shoes as engineering chief until Tamara returned.

              “So,” Galina asked as they started walking to the main engineering deck of the constructor ship, “What are your plans?’             

              “My plans are to hit the ground running,” Tamara replied.  “And get a new crewmember assigned to your fair ship, Captain.”

              She flicked an ear in interest.  “Oh?  And who is this new crewmember?  I assume he isn’t on the shuttle.”

              “No,” Tamara agreed.  “There’s not a new crewmember on the shuttle.  No, Stella and I are going to get together and make one.”

              Building an AI for the second time in a year proved to be much easier the second time.  With Stella able to do much of the coding what had taken Tamara two months of work in her off hours now took about two weeks.  Within that time, the two of them had molded a core matrix for a new AI and started on a second after the first week.  While that was going on, Tamara had engaged in a secondary project.

              She drew up plans for an in system craft, similar to the shuttles that FP was using.  “No, what I want is similar to the standard shuttles we’re using, but with some modifications,” Tamara said to Eretria when she approached her about the idea.  “I want it five meters longer, three meters wider.  The drives could use a five percent increase in power and a ten percent increase in the size of the fuel bunkers to give it the legs it needs to make long trips in system.  A bunk and a small head for comfort.  Also, I want a secondary reactor installed.”

              The other woman nodded, running a hand through her steel gray hair as she looked over the plans.  “All that sounds perfectly doable, ma’am.  But why do you want the extra power?”

              “Because I want to install a replicator on board,” she said.

              Eretria blinked in surprise.  “A replicator, ma’am?  Why?”

              “So I can use the ship as a roving repair vessel.  Or if I’m down on the planet I can whip something up right there for a customer instead of having to request it from up here.”

              “Makes sense.  These plans look pretty comprehensive.  When did you design this?” the other woman asked, looking over the file with the schematics.

              “Stella and I mocked it up while we were working on the fledgling AIs,” Tamara admitted.  “There was time when she would be compiling the code for the AI matrix and she had some extra processor cycles.”

              The older looking woman smiled.  Physically, Eretria looked to be in her late forties, early fifties and therefore about ten years older than Tamara, but Tamara had been in frozen hibernation sleep for nearly two and a half centuries.  Eretria had nothing on her, age wise.  “I like it.  I think, actually, that minus the replicator, that kind of ship would be perfect for doing cargo runs to and from the orbital or the planet out here to the mine.  We get four or five of these babies…”

              Tamara nodded.  “I was thinking more like twenty, but let’s just start with the one.”

              “Twenty!” Eretria gasped.

              Tamara smiled.  “Can’t think small.  Besides, I think we can really entice people to get into space and moving around.  And once they do, they’re going to need ships that can get them and their cargoes from A to B.”

              “So what are we calling this design?”

              She frowned.  “I’ll talk it over with Stella, see what she thinks.”

              Eretria gave her a hairy eyeball that was just one eyelash short of insubordinate.  It was masterful.  “Please, ma’am.  It’s been a long few weeks.  We both know that you already have an idea for the name.  Assuming you even want Stella’s advice or input on the name, I know you would have already gotten it before you brought it to me.  It isn’t like you to come in with only a half-baked idea.”

              Her lips twitched.  “All right.  Well, I
did
intend to think on it a bit more, but with the extra size and width, I was seriously considering the
Testudo
class cargo shuttle.”

              Eretria nodded.  “That works for me, ma’am.  I’ll get the team working on the first one.”

              “Excellent.  I’ll get the parts for the replicator fabbed and then assembled.”

              “What kind of replicator?”

              Tamara considered this.  “That’s a good question.  About the only thing that we could wedge into it would be a class one, but that would defeat the purpose.  A class one can’t make enough specialized parts to make it worthwhile for the power expenditure and the mass.”  She pursed her lips.

              “Can’t you use the class five to make a scaled down replicator?” Eretria asked.  She stepped over to the computer and pulled up a file.  “Yes, here it is,” she said, pointing.  “Right here, I knew I’d seen something like that before.”

              Tamara checked the file.  Then she chuckled.  “Good eye, Ms. Sterling,” she said.  “I’ve never seen replicator tech miniaturized like that.  We didn’t have those back in my day.”

              Eretria grinned, the first truly joyous expression Tamara had ever seen on the woman.  “You sound old when you say something like that.”

              She shrugged, unable to hold back a smile of her own.  “I am old.  But I’m not too senile to whip your tail, young whipper snapper!” Tamara said, affecting an elderly brogue and stooping a bit.  They both laughed.  “When did that miniaturized replicator get developed?” she asked, sobering slightly.  Pressing a few commands, she changed the information on the screen.  “About ninety years ago, it seems.  No wonder I’ve never seen it before.  Look at the specs for this.  It can’t make parts as large as the ones we’re currently using, but it only draws about sixty percent of the power.”  She brightened.  “You know, I think we could sell these.”

              Eretria looked horrified.  “I’m sure you could, ma’am.  I know the people in this system would want to get their grubby mitts on them, but are you really sure that’s a good idea?”

              Tamara nodded.  “I do.  They’ll still have the lockouts on them, so they won’t be able to build restricted tech.  And if we put in a proviso that we can request access when needed, say a few hours every month in an emergency, then if FP assets get destroyed or stolen either by pirates or the local government, we could rebuild.  Put the devices on a five to ten year lease, they make payments to us during that time, and we set up an AI to monitor them to make sure that they’re following the terms of the arrangement and making the payments.”  She grinned.  “It helps the locals get a jump start on their business, and it gets us a mountain of credits in the process.”

              “I can’t argue that,” Eretria said, nodding in approval.  “But you’re sure it’s the smart thing to do to release our monopoly on the replicator tech?  What if a customer figures out how to duplicate one?”

              “Well,” Tamara said, “In order to truly do that they’d need to get into the constructor matrix and, well, replicate the nanite matrix.  But the problem is, once you open it, it self-destructs.  And that matrix is really the most important part.  The rest of it is reasonably easy to make.  I’m not saying it can’t be done, but I’ll have the AI we build monitor for things like that.  And if they try to make something on the restricted list, they get one warning.  They do it again, ever, the replicator melts down.”

              “I like this idea, ma’am,” Eretria says.  “Have you talked to Stella about getting another AI going?”

              She sighed.  “No.  But I should do that soon.  All right, priorities.  Get your team working on the first
Testudo
.  I’ll be out to assist in a little bit.  I’m going to start working on the first mini replicator.  Is there a designation for that?  I don’t want to call it a mini.”  She grimaced.

              Eretria consulted the file.  “It’s designated as an A2.  An A2?  That seems rather… mundane.”

              “Hey, it’s easy to say.  I’m tired of things being given unnecessary complications just to validate some bureaucrat’s job.  Get to it; I’ll be with you as soon as I get the replicators moving.”

              “Yes, ma’am.”

              It would be another day before the first
Testudo
was ready for space, Eretria and her primary team were in progress of assembling the life support system and then doing final checks.  After that, they’d do a shakedown and Tamara could install the A2.  It was amazing, the work ethic, organization and skill of her teams here on the constructor ship.  They’d finished with the plans, replicated the materials and charged into the fray.  The ship’s keel had been laid that same day as her discussion with Eretria, and then they’d gotten to work.  Three days later, the ship was nearly completed.

              Tamara had more plans that she was working up.  The
Samarkand
was so far doing a good job of working as a mining ship as well as the main constructor for FP.  But if things were going to be building up more, they would need an independent mining construct, be it ship or station, to allow the
Samarkand
to go elsewhere without disrupting production.  So, Tamara had decided to build a small station, nothing as grand as the Kutok mine, but a platform the size of the
Samarkand
’s main bay with a boat bay capable of holding all the necessary tugs.  Refineries and processors would be, for now, similar in size as those on the ship.  In the future, operations would be expanded, and as needed, materials would be shuttled over to the
Samarkand
to keep her raw materials bunkers topped up.  It was something in the works, but first a proper docking slip was going to be constructed at the Kutok mine.  That would allow them to properly build corvette number two and perform maintenance on FP’s ships.  Which meant that since the
Grania Estelle
was a massive vessel a kilometer in length, it was going to need to be a big slip.

              Right now the
Samarkand
was about five light seconds distance from the Kutok mine, working on the last big rock the tugs had pulled out of the belt.  Her mining bots were slicing apart the rock and tossing what they gathered into range for the
Samarkand
’s tractoring beams to gather up.  Tamara had finished building the first A2 and diagnostics checked out.  Its constructor matrix was primed, it just needed to be hooked up to power and have its bunker filled up.  She had two more in the works, with the parts nearly completed; they just needed to be assembled, the constructor matrixes initialized and then fired up. 

              Her comm panel beeped.  She pressed the key.  “Samair here.”

              “Commander, we have an incoming transmission from the
Grania Estelle
,” the ship’s comms officer reported.  “It’s Captain Eamonn for you, ma’am.”

              “Understood,” she said, setting down her multitool and turning to the comm panel.  “Put him through please.”

              “Ma’am, he’s requesting a private conversation.”  The comms watch sounded a bit flustered.  “Should I pipe it through to the office?”  There was a pause.  “It’s currently empty.”

              She nodded and then remembered the comms watch couldn’t see her.  “That would be fine.  I’ll be there in a minute.”

              “Copy that, Commander.”

              Tamara entered the small office and closed the hatch behind her.  Sitting down at the desk, she activated the comms.  Vincent Eamonn’s displeased looking face appeared on the display before her.  “Yes, Captain, how can I help you?”

              “What’s this I’m hearing about you building replicators?”

              She sighed.  “Well, I’d hoped to have a bit more time to get all of my ravens in a row, but yes, that’s correct.”

              “May I ask why?”

              “Because think of the monetary possibilities, Captain,” she said.  “We lease an A2 replicator to a business for a term of no less than five years.  They pay us a monthly retainer for the use of the device and allow us, on an emergency basis, a few hours a week to use it if needed, and in return, they get access to a serious industrial tool.”  She pursed her lips.  “You know, I hadn’t thought about it, but we could probably sell the raw materials needed to them as well.”

              Vincent blinked, startled.  “Wait, an A2 replicator?”
              She nodded.  “That’s the term.  It’s a scaled down version, only about the size of a small console.  Can’t build massive parts like the ones we’re using can, but you can break down components into smaller pieces for assembly by techs later.”

              “And how do we make sure that they don’t just sell the things to someone else?”

              “I’m having an AI built to monitor all of the A2s.  That AI’s job is to keep track of all the A2s, report on whether the user is trying to make restricted tech, and keep an eye on payments.  Also, if someone tries to leave the system with one or if they try to hand it off to someone else or if it gets stolen, the AI will melt it down.”

              He was nodding now.  “That’s an interesting idea.”

              “It is,” she said.  “And one that will make the company a
hell
of a lot of money.  Which brings me to the next subject.  I need a raise.  A big one.”

              He raised an eyebrow.  “I thought you weren’t all that interested in material possessions.”

              Tamara shrugged.  “I don’t need a lot of stuff,” she admitted.  “But that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be paid proportional to my worth.  I’m the Chief of Operations for the company, Vincent and I’m in the very unique position of having a good deal of the master codes for the replicator systems.”

              “You’re blackmailing me,” he said, astounded.  “Honestly, Tamara, I thought better of you than this.”

              “No, Vincent, I’m not.  You’re going to pay me what I’m worth.  I’m running
your
business.”

              “Well, that’s not…” he began, but she cut him off.

              Tamara smiled.  “I know I let you bully me into running Operations and then captaining the
Cavalier
, but that doesn’t fly anymore.  You’re making me partner, effective immediately.”

              There was a low whistle in the background on his end of the transmission, quickly stifled.  “Partner?”

              “Yes,” she said simply.  “Equal partner, Captain’s share, but I’ll settle for 40% flat percentage.  Since I’m doing all the work of keeping the
Samarkand
on task, and overseeing the Kutok mine,
and
building up your security
and
I’m about to increase profits by at
least
forty percent, that’s the bare minimum of what you owe me.  I want the pay bump and the commensurate title to go with it.”

              He raised an eyebrow.  “You want to be called ‘partner’?”

              “No,” she said, grimacing.  “Captain.”

              He shook his head, confused.  “What?”

              “That’s what I want.  I want the bump to Captain.  Since I’m steering this ship of commerce anyway, I want the title.  And that’s something any merchant skipper such as yourself should be able to understand with the owner’s share reserved for the ship, or company itself.”

              “Is that all?” he asked, and Tamara noted his voice sounded rather shaken.

              “No,” she said and he winced.  “I’ll be taking the first
Testudo
class cargo shuttle that comes off the line.  I’ll be using it for my own transport when the
Samarkand
isn’t available.  The rest of them will be for company use or for sale.  And that’s another thing we can lease out, once people figure out that heading to the Kutok mine is a good idea.”  Tamara straightened up.  “So, Captain Eamonn, what is your answer?”

              He hesitated.  “I need to think about this.”

              “Do you?” she asked.  “I think it’s rather straightforward.  Either you pony up or I take my
Testudo
and I leave.  And good luck to you.”

              Vincent looked at her across the screen for a long moment.  “You’re trying to get me to give up almost half my company.”  Then his shoulders slumped.  “Twenty-five percent,” he said finally.

              Tamara shook her head.  “Forty.  Vincent, you and I have a good working relationship and one that has brought a lot of change, growth and profit in the last few months.  But please understand, and with all due respect,” he actually smiled when she said that, “I’m not negotiating with you here.  This is something I should have done when I first took over Operations, but I was still in the employee mindset instead of a manager’s.  It’s been a while for me to be truly thinking in that way again.”

              “Two and a half centuries, if memory serves,” Vincent put in.

              “Something like that.  So, forty percent.”

              “Damn it, Samair.  If you weren’t so damned productive I wouldn’t put up with your shit.”  He glared at her and there wasn’t any amusement in his eyes.  “I’m not exactly sure why I’m putting up with it at all.  And I’m sure as hell wondering why you and your shit are worth 40 percent of my company.”

              “And you’re asking yourself why you need to?” she asked.  Tamara shrugged, but an evil gleam was in her eye.  “If you’ve decided that my terms are unacceptable, we can shake hands and part ways.”

              He growled, grinding his teeth.  “You leave and suddenly
I’m
the one who needs to borrow replicator time from you to replace critical parts on my ship?”

              “You’d be coming to me anyway, Captain,” Tamara pointed out.  “And using my replicators.”

              “They were
my
replicators, Tamara,” he shot back.  “In fact, they still are.”

              “Of which you had very little use for until I showed up.   In fact, had I not been there, those pirates back at Instow would have stolen the one that you’d rigged to make basic parts and with the other one locked down you’d probably still be endlessly circling that gas giant.”

              He let out a long breath, leaning back in his seat.  He rubbed his eyes with one hand.  “Where did this come from, Tamara?” he asked.  “Out of nowhere, suddenly you’re demanding a raise?”

              “I realized after the battle where it all nearly fell apart that I needed to reassess my priorities,” she admitted.  “And I wasn’t willing to settle for less than what I’m worth.”

              “You have proven yourself useful,” he grumbled, but it was clear that her argument had swayed him.  Or perhaps it was the overhanging threat.

              She smiled sweetly.  “But Captain, I
am
so damned useful.”  She pressed a few keys, pulling a file out from her private database.  “I’m sending you a copy of the contract.  I just need you to initial and thumb it for approval.”

              Vincent eyed her suspiciously.  “Should I have Stella check this over?”  There was some stifled mirth that could be heard from the background.  “Are you in on this?” he demanded, looking off camera.  He grimaced.  “Yes, of course you are.”

              The vid screen split, showing Eamonn on one half and Stella now on the other.  “Actually, Captain, I’m
not
in on this, but I heartily approve.  Besides, you know you’re going to go for it.  Considering the amount of money she’s already made you and with these replicator and
Testudo
ideas, profits are going to skyrocket.  But yes, I’ll look it over.”  She blinked.  “It’s a standard contract, Captain Eamonn, with the stipulations that Tamara has already indicated.  She’s not trying to sneak something past you.”

              “No, she was very clear about what she wants.”  He leaned forward and pressed something, there was a beep on the transmission.

              Tamara saw that the document had been approved and she made several copies, sending them to secure data storage in several locations.  “Thank you very much, Partner,” she said.  Then she nodded brusquely.  “Well, now that that admin business is taken care of, I’ve got some work to be doing.  How go the repairs?”

              “Nearly completed,” Vincent said, the sourness fading from his voice.  “We should be ready to roll by this time tomorrow, according to Quesh.”

              “What kind of cargo are you carrying?” she asked.  “And where are you headed?”

              “Back to Heb,” he replied.  “We’ve made some contacts there and some decent profits.  I think we can do better this time.  We’re just going to load up on a lot of raw materials for the replicators, and we’ll head in system to the planet, see if our ground contacts have anything they want to sell.”

              “Sounds good.  Let me know if you get anything good.”

              He sighed as he signed off the call, and Tamara couldn’t help but smile.

              And here it was, the first of many, Tamara hoped.  The first of the
Testudo
cargo shuttles was coming off the line, as it were, all systems were go, her shakedown completed.  Tamara sat behind the controls and marveled at the construction.  At its heart, it was still just a cargo shuttle, albeit a big one, capable of carrying about eighty metric tons of cargo.  Hers actually was slightly less, what with the aux reactor and the A2 replicator crammed into the cargo hold, the ship’s cargo capacity was down to about seventy-five metric tons, but even that was nothing to shake a stick at. 

              It handled well, she thought as she continued with her own shakedown.  The tech crew had gotten the first ride and they’d enjoyed it, but to them, this ship was just another in a long string of projects.  To her, this was probably going to be her vehicle of choice to move from one company site to another, so she wanted to get a feel for the girl.  It wasn’t a fighter, and she needed to stop thinking of it like one, but it did handle well.  She wasn’t trying to run it through combat maneuvers, though she was sure she could get it to turn on a dime if needed. 

              “I like this ship,” she said aloud, though there wasn’t anyone aboard who could hear her.  She pursed her lips.  “And I definitely need some company aboard this baby.”  Tamara chuckled.  “Another AI, probably.”  Which wouldn’t be a bad idea, problems with light speed lag notwithstanding.  Still, having an AI aboard the shuttle would allow her to manage her contacts better and keep up on the business needs, even if there was a several minute lag between the planet and the gas giant.

              She nodded.  “All right, back to the
Samarkand
.  We’ve got a mining station to get up and running.  And then, we’re getting a construction slip built.  And we’ll be making more replicators.” 
It’s going to be a busy month
.

              “All right people,” Tamara said to the engineering crew aboard the
Samarkand
a short while later.  She had docked her ship with the constructor ship’s portside airlock and come aboard.  It wasn’t a great solution, and in fact, she’d asked Galina to send someone aboard to keep an eye on things while she was gone.  Tamara made a mental note to get a caretaker for helm watch whenever she wasn’t on board.  The last thing she needed was for her brand new shuttle to wander off or to rip itself loose from the
Samarkand
while they were docked.  “We’ve got two different projects that we’re going to be working on,” she went on.  “At the moment, as you all know, the
Samarkand
is acting as a mobile mining platform as well as a constructor ship.”  Nods from the assembled mass.  “But honestly, it’s hampering efficiency.  With the fuel situation sorted out, at least for now, it’s time we get this girl back to building things and put the asteroid mining on a separate platform.  So that’s job number one.”

              She pressed a control and a holo projector activated, bringing up an image of what she wanted.  “We’re going to be building a platform that can handle about double the amount of materials as the
Samarkand
, though we’ll do something similar to what we did with the Kutok mine.  I want to leave room for expansion.”  Tamara gestured to the holo.  “As you can see, this design has a central plate that we’ll build on, above and below.  Above,” she pointed, “we’ll have the collection and refinery modules.  And then below we’ll put in living spaces for the mining crew and a boat bay for the tugs.”