(Dimiya Industrial Shipyards, Dimiya System)
“Well, I gotta say, Mister Mollen, I was kindof surprised
when you reached out to us for work, what with you having your own yards and
all.”
The man in front of me was a greasy, slimy, and generally
disreputable-looking knelfi businessman named Elmer Sarphine. Literally, he was
the only fat knelfi I had ever seen. The only reason I was bothering with an
odious little man like him is because he was the owner of the industrial
shipyard here in Dimiya. Which meant I needed to come here to get the ships I
needed for my expedition.
“Well, you know how it is. Our slips are full up at the
moment, working through the backlog of orders we’ve had. We’d have to push
projects back to make the ships ourselves, which wouldn’t win us any favors.
You had open slips, and the plans and setup already in place to make the mining
and processing ships. We make mostly freighters and small craft. Sure, we could
make the industrial ships, but we’re just not set up for that kind of
thing, you know? Would have to retool a few lines to set up for that.”
The fat knelfi man nodded at that. “Sure, sure. And your
freighters don’t cut into our profits any, cuz we’re specialized, like ya said.
Least you’ve got sense about coming to someone who knows these things, rather
than trying to throw something together on your own.” He then looked at my
companion, and said, “And I can’t complain about you bringing her by to
brighten the place up a bit.”
Raven shifted slightly in her seat, but simply smiled at the
man. I was around her so much that it was sometimes easy to forget that the
drone body she’d inhabited was originally designed as a high-end sexbot, and
was easy to fool people, especially with a full ship suit on, like she was
wearing. The fact that her ship suit was skin tight did nothing to help the
man’s concentration, but that was neither here nor there, and was certainly not
the reason I had Raven with me at the moment.
“Now, as I said in my message, we have a few hulls ready to
go, but they were spoken for, way back. It’ll cost more to bump those
customers, and I’m only doing this because you’re an influential man.” The yard
owner brought up several files on the wall screen, showing seven ships.
Name
|
Description
|
Cost
|
MX-32
|
Standard asteroid mining craft for
extended missions. Basic design has been used for one hundred years, though
the electronics and other essentials have been updated on this newest model.
|
229,000 Credits
|
Saronite
|
New model short range mining vehicle,
with experimental alloy in the hull.
|
30,000 Credits
|
Baccarat-class refinery
|
The Baccarat-class is the newest in
Card Industry’s line of mobile refinery craft for deep space mining needs.
|
520,000 Credits
|
G-234a
|
New model mining vessel, designed
primarily for short range asteroid mining.
|
173,000 Credits
|
Mac-Than Digger
|
The Digger line of mining vessels is
another proven design with updated electronics. Strictly no-frills, but easy
to build and maintain.
|
75,000 Credits
|
Kinkō
|
A modern mid-range mining ship design
in use for the last twenty years. Highly modified to increase efficiency
without sacrificing crew comfort.
|
130,000 Credits
|
Moneymaker
|
A proven mobile refinery suitable to
deal with any industrial space mining effort the buyer may engage in.
|
302,000 Credits
|
Raven: Captain, the Saronite is currently the cheapest craft he has
because three separate owners have returned the craft for the initial deposit
and it is only a year old. Reports say that the alloy in the hull has bad
effects on those who come in contact with it.
M.Mollen: Well, that’s
not entirely unexpected. What about the other hulls?
Raven: They all appear
to be in decent shape, from the internal records I was able to access. Several
of them have been idle for some time, however, as the recent chaos caused the
initial buyers to cancel their orders.
M.Mollen:
Recommendations?
Raven: The MX-32 is
built on a proven design, which is known to be rugged and reliable, if somewhat
unimaginative and lacking in upgrades. A comparable situation to the Colt
1911/1991 pistol. And if things do break in the field, it will be easy for us
to repair.
Raven: The Digger and Kinkō are the other two mining ships I would
suggest, as they are solid designs, and capable of independent action for short
periods. The G-234a is more like a mining shuttle that operates from a base
ship.
Raven: The
Baccarat-class is overpriced, especially as it is one of the canceled orders,
but it is the best of the two refinery options. The Moneymaker is an old design that has had some problems
in recent years, and would likely require more effort to maintain.
Looking up from the files once Raven had given me the
low-down, I smiled at the fat man, and reached out with just a hint of
Influence to make sure he saw things my way. “Now, Mr. Sarphine, we’ll just
skip the part where I call you out on which ships you’ve listed that are
actually orders that have been canceled due to the recent unpleasantness, and
get to where I’m doing you a favor clearing them from your slips.” The man
sputtered slightly, but I didn’t give him a chance to speak as I continued. “I
will buy the MX-32, Digger, Kinkō, and Baccarat, and I will pay you
525,000 credits for all four of them. That will still net you a profit, and
will clear the canceled orders from your yards, allowing you to build new
ships. In addition, I will transfer ownership of one of the new private yachts
that are coming off of our slips to you. I can assure you that they are quite
good for entertaining prospective clients, or impressing the ladies.”
The fat man sighed, and said, “They told me you drove a hard
bargain, Mr. Mollen, but I see they were understating things. Still, that yacht
would help enhance my image when dealing with clients. Very well, we’ve got a
deal.”
“Excellent. My people will be over in two hours to collect
the four ships. Your yacht will be delivered at the same time.” We shook hands,
signed the necessary paperwork, and then Raven and I left, happy to be rid of
the man and one step closer to starting on the expedition.
(Berlin Ruins, Earth)
“YOU STUPID PIECE OF CRAP! GET! IN! THERE!”
The sounds of industry and percussive maintenance rang out
through the rubble that was once Berlin. The nanoweapon unleashed by the
Empress and her forces had ravaged the city, destroying any machine more
complex than a steam engine, and causing many modern materials to disintegrate
as the nanites used them to increase their numbers. The nearest ‘safe zone’,
according to the news that had gone out just before the wave hit, was somewhere
in Italy.
In a cave of concrete lit by torches, a man was working on
his latest ‘invention’. Well, not really an invention, since it was little
better than a steam engine, wheels, and a way to steer, but as the first
working vehicle on Earth outside the safe zones since the nanopocalypse, it
surely counted, right? Well, it would once he actually got the damn thing
working.
Unfortunately, Berlin in game was rather resource poor at
the moment, and food was hard enough to come by, what with refrigeration units
and hydroponic gardens going away. To say nothing of the synthetic packaging
many foods were wrapped in. The only reliable source of protein around, now
that anything fresh was rotten, was the smoked ‘jerky’ he had made shortly
after all the idiots with implants went and died because nanites ate their
brains. After Jagloth, he wasn’t putting any tech in his body, not this time!
Sure, making ‘people jerky’ was grim work, but he had to
survive to get out of here and make it to civilization. If he didn’t, he’d
never be able to track down that bastard that stole his ship and took credit
for all his hard work. Gemroth was a genius, in game and out, if he did say so
himself, so this was only an inconvenience. He’d make sure to get that bastard
to pay for the work he’d stolen. Once he got out of here, and to a safe zone,
he’d make a new ship, with even better tech! That would show the bastard.
A clatter came from behind him, and Gemroth whirled around,
holding his hammer like a weapon, but relaxed when he saw it was just his pet.
“Ah, Mina. Don’t sneak up on me like that. You wouldn’t want ol’ Gemroth to go
and hit you with his hammer by mistake, would you? Might mistake you for one of
those bandits, trying to steal from an old man again.”
Mina whimpered, cringing back against the wall on the rough
bed Gemroth had fashioned for himself from whatever he could find. He was lucky
in his scrounging the first day, and had found the chains and collar that he
used on this prize. One of the few people left in the city who wasn’t either
dead or insane from their implants getting eaten. Like him, she was clean.
Well, technology-wise, at least. Neither of them had washed in days, as water
was too scarce to waste like that. The little Gauz female didn’t say much, but
that was fine by him. He didn’t care to listen to her.
“Now, don’t give me that whimpering, girl. I’ll be over in
just a bit to give you all my attention, once I get this dagnabbed engine
working. Then, in the morning, we’re going to ride in style as we head back to
civilization, and we’ll see how good you are at giving road head. Don’t that
sound fun? Now shut up and let me work or I won’t give you any jerky tonight!”
(Firebranch Range Farming Solutions, Dimiya)
“Ah, Captain Mollen! So good of you to join us. I was told
you were putting together something of a deep space run, and wanted your people
to be properly fed, is that correct?”
I smiled at the proprietor of my next stop in preparing for
a long journey with lots of people “Indeed I am, Ms. Zindan. We all know that
keeping people fed is the most important part of any expedition, after making
sure the ships are maintained, and while rations will keep you alive, I’ve yet
to find any that actually tasted good. And there’s only so much you can do with
soypaste solutions. Sure, they have the right ingredients, and you can mimic
the taste a little, but the texture just isn’t there.”
The half-knelfi woman smiled back at me, and said,
“Naturally! You want to keep your people happy, then real food is what you
want. And we’re happy to set you up with what you need. I understand you were
interested in both our Farmtainer and CloneVat product lines, right?”
“Indeed. Several of my ships are equipped with the standard
soy growth-vats, but as you know those are really best used as supplementals and
are only a step or two above emergency rations. When possible, most captains
want to resupply with real food. But on deep space runs, like the one being
planned, the ships will potentially be out of contact for an extended period of
time, so we are looking at replenishable solutions that can keep our people fed
indefinitely, even if they don’t hit port.”
“Hmm. Well, lets start with the ‘meat’ of things, then, yes?
CloneVats are perfect for flash-growing almost any meat you can culture, from various
livestock species. There will be a difference in texture that some people may
notice. Beef from cattle, for instance, gets a certain texture from working the
muscles and the type of feed that you can’t replicate with flash-grow methods.
This isn’t a problem if you’re getting a hamburger, though steak lovers will
notice the difference.”
I laughed, and said, “Well, if they want to complain, we’ll
toss them on emergency rations, to show them how good they have it.”
Zindan chuckled. “A common response, I assure you. The Farmtainers
are really what Firebranch is known for. Farmtainers are modular hydroponic
garden solutions that can be adapted to suit your needs, based on a standard
cargo container size. Unfortunately, that basic size does not allow for
efficient production of Earth grains such as wheat, but there is a knelfi
equivalent that is nearly identical in taste and utility, but grows low enough
to the ground to make vertical farming an effective means of growing them.
Using similar solutions with other crops, we have been able to replicate pretty
much any staple crop. You will not be able to grow some fruits, like apples and
oranges, but most berries will thrive in the Farmtainers.”
I had already checked with Raven. All told, there were over six
thousand people in Black Star that would be coming on this expedition. “I will
need active Farmtainers and CloneVats to feed seven thousand, with spares and
backups to feed another ten thousand if need be.”
“You… don’t think small, do you, Captain?”
“More fun to dream big.”
Previous Chapter Table of Contents Next Chapter
Be sure to read my published works!
Frozen Soul series (Sci-Fi Supervillain story):
Frozen Soul https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071R125QT
Tales of the Void Traveler https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZZ52G37
Rules-Free VRMMO Life (Dark Fantasy GameLit):
Volume 1 - Tutorial https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071VPRNDB
Omnibus 1 - Volumes 1-4 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0774T354X
Into the Black (Sci-Fi GameLit):
Book I - Game Start https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071LT5WGL
Omnibus I - Books 1-4 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077X2KR7Y
City of Champions Online (Superhero GameLit):
Issue I - Origin Stories https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075SHXQS1
Lewd Dungeon (Dungeon Core GameLit):
Book 1 - Welcome to the Apocalypse https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BB34DHF
The Kalipshae Affair (A First Contact Short Story): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0739V6R6T
No comments:
Post a Comment