A Greater Interest: Samair in Argos: Book 4 (25 page)

             
Yes, this was going to be interesting.
  She smiled. 
And they’re all going to think you’re crazy, Samair
.

              Tamara looked at the two people in the small office aboard the
Samarkand
, one organic and one holographic.  Kay’grax was a young zheen, but he had proven his skill and worth over the last few years as an engineer.  He had recently taken over as Chief Supervisor aboard the repair ship, leading the repair teams and so far neither Captain Radha nor Nasir had seen any problems with his work, his effectiveness or his attitude.  He was one of the few people in the company who had been there since the beginning, as he was a former member of
Grania Estelle
’s ship’s company.  He seemed tired, his antennae were drooping a bit and he was emitting a faint, almost imperceptible hum, but he was endeavoring to present a strong front.

              The other was Nasir, the ship’s AI.  He appeared on the office’s holo pad, in the guise of a handsome lupusan dressed in a company shipsuit with the logo of the galactic spiral over his right breast.  Instead of leggings, however, he had on a knee-length kilt, to accommodate his tail.  This was a piece of clothing that all lupusan used, so he didn’t look out of place. 

              “So, Tamara, can we know why you have called this meeting?” Nasir asked, curiously.  “It isn’t as though the crews and engineering teams don’t have things to do to get the ship’s systems up and running.”

              “Or to rebuild the tank farm,” Kay’grax put in.

              Tamara nodded.  “I know you’re both busy, but we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us in the coming months.  All of us.”

              “Yes, ma’am,” the zheen said.

              “But it was the attack on the Kutok mine using the asteroid that really got me concerned,” Tamara told them, crossing her arms over her chest.  “If
Persistence of Vision
and Leader Korqath’s fighter squadrons hadn’t been in position to do something about it, we could have lost the mine, the fuel and all the personnel down there.  It would have been a crippling blow to the system, not to mention the company.”

              “And you have a plan.”  The Ai wasn’t asking a question.

              “I do.  And I don’t remember ever hearing about it, it’s going to be expensive and labor intensive, but when it’s up and running, it’s going to be brilliant.”  She nodded again.  “We’re going to build a shield.”

              Kay’grax waggled his antennae in approval.  “That
is
a good idea, ma’am.  Install many more shield generators in the Kutok mine, that should protect them from all sorts of damage.”

              “Well, it wasn’t what I had in mind, Kay’grax, but that is a good idea.  I’ll have Tiyaana assign some of her engineering teams to the task once the processing and refining sectors are back online.  There will be some power concerns…”  She waved her hands in dismissal.  “That’s something that they can worry about.  I’ll tell them to do it; I don’t need to tell them how.  I’m sure they’ll be able to get it done.  No,” she went on.  “I was thinking something a bit more literal.  Like what a medieval warrior would carry to protect from incoming arrows.”

              Nasir flicked his ears and crossed his own arms in thought.  “I’m assuming you’re talking about something heavy duty, especially if you expect it to be able to stop a kinetic strike.”

              “Well, a near
c
impact isn’t going to be something that it would be able to stop, even if it did have energy shields,” Tamara admitted.  “The amount of kinetic energy would be too great to simply stop it.  Here’s what I’m proposing.”  She pressed a control on the desk and the small holo projector activated over the desk and a disc appeared.  “We’re going to take one of the larger asteroids out in the belt, one that is composed primarily of nickel-iron.  We’re going to melt it down.”

              “And spin it up like we did with the shipyard?” Kay’grax guessed.  “Make a big nickel-iron disc that’s thick enough to defend against a big rock, like the ones the pirates threw at the Kutok mine.”

              “Close,” Tamara replied.  “It’s going to be a lot more impressive than that.  When the metal has been heated and molten, we’re going to mix in the components to create steel.”

              “Steel?” Nasir asked.  “Wouldn’t it be easier just to use the nickel-iron?”

              “It would.  But comparatively, nickel-iron is a softer metal and I want this shield to be able to withstand some hits.  We might do more to enhance the armor later, but for now, steel.  Once it’s ready, we’ll spin it up and we’ll have a nice big cover for the Kutok mine.”

              “How big are you thinking, ma’am?” the zheen engineer asked.  “A kilometer?”

              Tamara shook her head, smiling.  “No, I was thinking more along the lines of fifteen and eighteen kilometers in diameter.  And between three-quarters to a full kilometer in thickness.”

              The AI barked a laugh, and the zheen’s mandibles clacked.  “That’s crazy, Ma’am, if you’ll forgive me,” Kay’grax exclaimed.  “An eighteen
kilometer
shield?”

              “Yes.  I want something that can take a hit and shrug off conventional weapons fire,” she explained.  “And if it’s wide enough, it would force an attacker to have to fly around it to attack the mine.  The shield would be in geosynchronous orbit over the Kutok mine, we’ll put in stabilizing and directional thrusters on the underside of it to keep it from falling into the atmosphere.”

              “Okay, ma’am, I can sort of see how this is going to work,” Nasir put in.  “But just having a big steel plate hovering over the mine?  Seems like a big waste of time and resources.”

              “Well, there’s more to it.”  Tamara pressed another control.  “I want this thing to be bristling with weapons: turbolasers, heavy laser batteries, missile launchers, the works.  I’m also going to install a trio of big mass drivers to deflect any incoming kinetic projectiles that we see coming.  I’m going to put in a large sensor net, and put up a few more satellites to make sure that we can see any incoming projectiles.  Eventually, we’re going to make some more improvements, adding in shield generators and some increased armor to the topside.”

              “I’m seeing the defensive possibilities, Tamara,” Nasir said, considering.  “But it sounds like a huge money pit.  I can’t figure that you’d get more than a pittance in loans to pay for all of this.  The council is not going to authorize this, no matter how you try and spin it, no matter how good an idea it is.”

              “Then FP will pay for a good portion out of pocket,” she said.  “We’ve been operating well in the black for months now, and that should give us what we need to at least get it started.  But,” and she raised a finger, “I’ve thought about that.”

              “You’ve only been talking about the topside,” Kay’grax guessed.

              “Correct.  I’m thinking that on the underside, facing the planet, we construct a habitat.”  She looked to her audience.  “What?  There’s been talk of building an orbital station out here ever since we got the Kutok mine up and running.  The mine itself is pretty spartan and we’ve really only had the workers coming here.  If we’ve got the station in orbit under a heavy armored shell, with a great view of the gas giant, we can get people to come out here.  It will also make it a lot easier to build up that mining concern on the moon we’ve been looking into.”

              “So we’re going to put aside the mining base on the moon in exchange for this… shield?” Nasir asked.             

              “We’re not putting anything aside,” Tamara said firmly.  “The work on the base will be done alongside the other companies.  But we will continue working on the shield at the same time.  As it is, there’s going to be quite a lag between when we harvest the rock out of the belt to when the shield is spun up and cooled.”

              “Approximately six months,” Nasir put in.

              “That’s about right.  Which means that while we’re waiting for that to happen, we can be working on the base and the mining station and the hundred other projects that we’re going to have.”

              “Hundred other projects, ma’am?” Kay’grax asked, his voice sounding small.

              She grinned ferociously.  “Why, Supervisor Kay’grax, we’re going to be building defenses.  Ships, guns and weapons.  We’re going to make this system one that no one will ever want to get into without permission.  Some of those will be to expand our commercial fleet.”  When Kay’grax’s antennae whirled, she answered.  “Someone’s got to pay for all this and I think that the arrival of a pirate fleet will scare the shit out of the citizens and make the council members start scrambling around trying to calm them down.  Which means we have a very short window for getting contracts for building warships for the government.  Once the
Leytonstone
and her escorts get back, people are going to start feeling complacent again.  Which is why we have to keep the heat on and push
hard
now.”

              Nasir nodded.  “Makes sense.  And you’re right.  If the past is any indication, there will be some token effort to calm things down and once the battlecruiser returns, people will start to forget.  Especially if there was no appreciable change in the status quo.”

              Tamara smirked.  “Which there will be.  I plan to make sure that the pressure stays on.  Verrikoth or one of his cronies will be back this way eventually and we can’t rely that the battlecruiser is going to be in exactly the right place to help out next time.”  She grimaced.  “They weren’t this past time.”  Then she shook her head, clearing away those bitter thoughts.  “There wasn’t anything to be done about that.  A hand had to be extended to Ulla-tran; we’re going to need their trade and if possible, their industry.”

              “Their industry?” Kay’grax gasped, buzzing. 

              Tamara smiled slightly.  “Yes, Kay’grax.  Their industry.  We didn’t really get a good chance to look at it when we were there two years ago on the
Grania Estelle
, and I know that you and Frederick Vosteros were a little distracted by the whole getting abducted by the people on the fueling station.”

              “And then we all got really distracted when we met up with Verrikoth’s pirate fleet the first time,” the zheen replied, sounding disgusted.  “Not something I need to ever experience again.  I don’t need that kind of distraction again.  Hell, getting shot at aboard
this
ship was bad enough.  We just got lucky the pirates were feeling generous.”

              “They didn’t stop and finish us off,” Nasir said.

              “They didn’t need to stop,” Kay’grax retorted.  “Another salvo would have done the job, even at the speed they were traveling.  It wasn’t as though we could have evaded or even defended against them.”  He sounded bitter, though it was completely justifiable.

              “All right,” Tamara said.  “First things first.  The
Samarkand
.  How long until the ship is back up and running again?”

              The zheen buzzed.  “Probably two weeks for a proper shakedown.  But we’re going to need to get some new crew and work teams.  We’ve lost…”  He was suddenly overcome with emotion and he stopped speaking, turning his head away from where Tamara was sitting.  He could still see her, of course, with his huge compound eyes, but the meaning of the gesture was clear.  He seemed to compose himself, but he didn’t turn back.  He was zheen, not human and as such, he didn’t tear up, nor did he get choked up like a human would, but he was emitting a light buzzing noise.  “We’ve lost a lot of people… friends.”

              Tamara nodded in sympathy.  “Yes we did.  Nasir here is going to be getting an upgrade, if that’s all right with you.”

              The wolf nodded.  “Of course.”  He grinned.  “I relish the challenge, actually.  When the ship took the hits, a lot of my control lines were severed.  But the crew, and you, Tamara, did a good job of getting things restored.  I’d be happy to get a new crop of constructor bots.  I’m actually quite keen on getting my subsystems back online.  I’ve only got six bots currently operational and those are all tied up with the conduits, but we’re finally getting the whole power situation sorted out.  Yes, I’d say that two weeks is a good estimate, Tamara.”

              “Thank you, Nasir.  Keep up the good work.  And I will get you those bots,” she promised.  “Getting another engineering crew is going to be a bit harder, but I will work on that.  I think for a short while, it’s going to be difficult to get recruits.”  She sighed.  “Probably have to throw some credits at the problem.  We’ll see.  But you two have some work to do.  I have a call to make.”

~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~

              “Captain Greer, welcome to the Kutok mine,” Tamara said in greeting, to the man on her display.  She was seated back at her desk aboard
Moxie-2
, not wanting to monopolize the office on the
Samarkand
.  “I have to tell you, we’re all very glad to see you and your ships out this way.”

              The man gave a contemptuous sneer.  “Yes, quite.  I’m sure you all are, though I think you need to teach your
Captain
Raydor the meaning of respect for his superiors.”