First Principles: Samair in Argos: Book 3 (55 page)

              “Sorry, ma’am,” she said, flushing completely red.  “That was a completely inappropriate comment.”

              “Forgiven.  Now, about the
First Horizon
?”

              “Yes, ma’am,” the engineer replied.  “The
First Horizon
will be ready to go by tomorrow.”

              Tamara smiled beatifically.  “That is excellent work, Eretria.  I’m sure our new captain will be well pleased about that.”

              Eretria mimicked Tamara’s earlier expression, raising one eyebrow questioningly.  “Oh?  Who did you get, ma’am?”

              “Lujayne Orzo,” Tamara replied.  “She came into one of the recruiting stations two weeks ago.  I was interested in her cargo background.  I guess she ran her own planetside cargo service for eight years and got excited when we started advertising for the position of captain for one of our cargo ships.”

              She nodded in understanding.  “Sounds like an ideal cargo specialist.  Does she have any experience in captaining a ship?”

              “Well, she has management experience, which is important.  But she has no experience in space, much less as the captain of a ship.”

              “And you want this woman to be the captain of the
First Horizon
?” she asked incredulously.  “I’m actually surprised at that, ma’am.”

              Tamara chuckled.  “I’ve had her going through simulations and study materials ever since that interview.  Normally, I’d have her go through a trial period, working for an experienced captain for a couple of months.  Actually, I’m really wishing I
had
another ship that she could be working on in the meantime.”

              “Well, the only cargo ship we have that is hyper-capable is
Grania Estelle
, ma’am.  And she was already outbound when we started working on
First Horizon
.  She’s probably already in Heb by now.”

              Tamara got a distracted look on her face, obviously accessing the information on her implants.  “Yes.  Assuming they didn’t redline the engines, the bulk freighter should have exited hyperspace three days ago.”  She shrugged.  “We’ll have to work something out.  I can’t conscience sending the
First Horizon
off on a trade mission without a competent captain.”

              “Well, Orzo really only has to be in charge, yes?” Eretria asked.  “I mean, make sure she’s well covered with experienced spacers who can do the jobs that are needed, and just get her feet wet on the actual run.”

              Tamara mulled that over for a moment and then nodded.  “That sounds good, but I want to send the
First Horizon
to Ulla-tran.  Granted it’s been quite a while since we’ve been back there, but I’m concerned about sending a complete novice out there.”             

              “Well, ma’am, all Orzo needs to worry about is making a profit and bringing the ship, crew and cargo back safe.  The crew can take care of the maneuvers, and Orzo can take care of the cargo.”

              “And we’ll be sending
Cavalier
along for cover, at least on this first run.”  Tamara thought about it for another few minutes, then nodded again.  “All right.  You’ve sold me.  Orzo gets some firsthand experience, as well as some time to get the qualifications.”  She snorted.  “Not that she really needs them.  It isn’t like there’s some overarching bureaucracy that’s monitoring licenses.”

              Lujayne Orzo was more nervous than she ever had felt in her whole life.  She’d been lifted by shuttle from the surface to the orbital station, which was an experience all in itself.  She was used to the hustle and bustle of crowds and was expecting a crush of people on the orbital.  When she stepped out of the hangar bay and out onto the main concourse, she was surprised to find that while there were a number of people here, there was a great deal of room to move and breathe.  There was actually
more
available space, or so she felt, than there was back down in the city streets.

              She made her way to the small offices that had been rented by FP, Incorporated, and entered.  The young man sitting as receptionist looked up at her as she approached.  “Good afternoon, ma’am,” he said politely.  “How can I help you today?”

              “I’m Lujayne Orzo,” she said, somewhat awkwardly.  She still couldn’t believe that this was all happening.  “I have an appointment.”

              The man checked his display, then nodded.  “Yes, Ms. Orzo.  Go right on through.  They’re expecting you.”

              Lujayne walked through the door and into the office beyond.  She blinked when she saw that one of the big bosses of the company, Tamara Samair, was seated at the small desk in the cramped office.  “Ms. Samair.  I didn’t expect to see
you
here.  I thought I was going to meet up with you at the
Samarkand
.”

              The dark-haired Chief of Operations waved her to the only other chair in the cramped office.  “I thought about that, but I also thought we could make the trip back to the yard together.  I only really met you the one time, and while impressed, I don’t really know you that well.  And if I’m going to give command of one of my cargo ships over to you, I think I might want to understand you a bit better.”

              “Of course,” Lujayne said, sitting down.  “What would you like to know?”  She knew that her voice sounded nervous and she mentally kicked herself. 
It’s just a job.  Get a grip on yourself.  It’s a
good
job, but it’s just a job.

              “Talk to me about yourself,” Tamara said, getting herself more comfortable in the chair.  “Where you grew up, where you worked, that cargo business of yours.  Why come to work for me?”

              She raised her eyebrows.  “Am I being interviewed again?” 
Damn it, no.  Please no.  That was grueling enough.

              Tamara shrugged.  “If you want to look at it that way.  I was thinking more that this was a conversation between two colleagues.”

              Lujayne signed.  “Well, I was born on Holaga Island, daughter to a bus driver and a school teacher.  I got a decent education, but nothing really that impressive.  I decided I didn’t want to follow along in my parents’ footsteps, so I got out.  Started working at the loading docks at seventeen, worked my way up to cargo picker and finally specialist.  Started my own business working off those same docks and made a decent living at it.  But I sold it about a month ago, when I heard there were opportunities in space.  I’d never been in space before.”

              “Why would you assume that FP would have opportunities in trade?  Up until recently we only had one cargo ship capable of reaching other star systems.”

              The woman smiled.  “Ma’am, I’d been watching your business.  You’ve been growing in leaps and bounds.  You’ve already built a few cargo ships for other companies, which I knew to mean that you would be making more for yourself soon enough.  There have to be too many good markets out there to pass up.”

              “And that’s why you joined?”

              “Yeah,” she replied.  “I proved I can make a profit in a shipping business, and with the opportunities popping up I wanted to see what foreign markets looked like.  Maybe see another world or two.”

              Tamara nodded.  “That’s how it goes.  Right now we’re only going to be trading with three worlds, all of them within one jump of Seylonique.  There’s a pirate threat and until we know things are safe, I want to keep our ships close to home port.”  She looked to the prospective captain before her.  “There are three things that I want from you if you decide to take this position.”  She paused.

              “And what would those be, ma’am?”

              “Don’t embarrass the company,” Tamara replied, ticking them off on her fingers.  “That is by far the least of the three.  It’s important, sure, because I want to be able to keep trading with the nearby systems.  But compared to the other two…”  She shrugged.  “Item number two: make a profit.  I don’t really care what you buy or trade in, but please be smart.  Don’t buy or sell weapons or drugs or slaves or anything like that.  To my knowledge, there isn’t any people trafficking going on in Ulla-tran, Heb or Bimawae.”

              “Ma’am,” Lujayne said with a grimace.  “If that was a joke, it was in poor taste.”

              “I wasn’t joking,” Tamara said.  “I was just explaining parameters.  I probably didn’t need to,” she admitted, “but I just wanted to set clear expectations.”

              FP’s newest employee nodded slowly.  “Very well, ma’am.  You said there was a third thing?”

              Tamara nodded, a slight smile on her face.  “I should think that was obvious.  Make sure you bring your crew back safely.  And the ship.”

              “And that warrants third place in the pecking order?” she asked, dubiously.

              Tamara shook her head, openly grinning now.  “No, it deserved the last place in line because it was the most important.  I want to build up a good reputation for this company in the surrounding star systems.  I want to have my ships turning a profit.  I want to grow this business.  But most important of all, I want my people to be safe.  I want to be able to continually send them out, knowing that they will be able to come back home.”

              “Why me, ma’am?  Why are you choosing someone with no shipboard experience to captain one of your ships?” she asked.  “I’m a nobody.  A nobody that you don’t know, who has no experience.”  She pointed to the side.  “That ship out there has got to be insanely expensive.  Why would you trust me with this?”

              “That’s a fair question.  One that I’ve been mulling over.”  Tamara looked away, to the far bulkhead.  “I saw your optimism in that interview we had.  The willingness to just drop what could have been a lucrative business and join up with me, knowing that you might be sent off to work at a desk somewhere.  And as far as no experience, we both know that’s crap.  You ran a successful shipping and cargo business.  You might not have the experience in captaining a ship, but that can be learned.  I like what I see so far.  You’ll take the
First Horizon
out on a run to and from Ulla-tran.  You’ll be accompanied by the defense corvette
Cavalier
, who will watch your back and keep you all safe.  Your crew has some experienced hands aboard and they’ll be able to operate the ship and get you there and back.  Once you’re back, we’ll reevaluate your status.”

              Tamara stood.  “But now, we’ll continue this on my ship.  And then we will get you to the
First Horizon
so you can meet your crew.”  She waved Lujayne up.  “Come on.”

              “If you check on this display here,” Tamara indicated, “you can see the
First Horizon
now.”  They were aboard the
Moxie-2
, and were coming up on the yard.  The trip in from the orbital had been pleasant, the two women discussed more of Lujayne’s past, her own experiences working at the shipping business as well as talking about FP, the company itself, policies, as well as what could be expected out there in the Deep Dark.  Tamara talked about traveling through hyperspace, a journey of twenty-seven days from Seylonique to Ulla-tran at Yellow level three, the max cruising speed of the
First Horizon
. 

              Lujayne crowded up to the display, checking out the ship.  It was a smooth ship, which surprised her.  When at the orbital, Lujayne had seen the
Kara
still docked at one of the berthing slips, which was a boxy set of rectangles.  This ship, though, was all smooth lines and curves.  “She’s beautiful.”

              Tamara beamed.  “I figured, since I get the chance to build my own cargo ships, why not go for a little form over function?  One hundred and twenty-five meters of ship, capable of hauling one hundred and fifty metric tons of mixed cargo.  Crew of twelve, including her captain.  Three other officers, the first mate, the engineer and the navigator, plus a cargo specialist, but I think you can manage those duties.”  Lujayne’s eyes were glued to the display, still disbelieving.  “She’s a bit cramped, since most of the space inside is set aside for cargo.  You’ll get a chance to go over the available cargo lists before you depart, of course, and take your pick from anything in FP stocks.  Once you get yourself established and have ship accounts set up, you can continue to use the FP stocks for trade, or you can buy cargoes from the orbital or the planet, your choice.”  Tamara smiled.  “So long as you turn a profit, I don’t much care.”

              “How long until we’re able to dock?” Lujayne asked, unable to conceal her excitement.

              “Thirteen minutes,” Tamara said with a chuckle, knowing that the other woman wasn’t really listening.

              Upon docking, the two women (led by Ekaterina) entered the cargo vessel.  The crewman at the hatch beamed at seeing the boss entering.  “Ms. Samair!  Good to see you again,” the man said happily, extending a hand.

              Tamara shook it warmly.  “Good to see you too, Ernie.  Let me introduce you to your new captain.  This is Lujayne Orzo.  Captain Orzo, this is Ernesto Velasquez, Chief Engineer.”