Masoul (Harmony War Series Book 2) (5 page)

              Mark sat in the seat next to Dill, looking over the information slate. There were a lot of blank areas on yard three-two-one-seven’s various structures. The previous owners didn’t declare what many of their additions did, before running away and defaulting on their power-plant dues.

              Mark spent the nights training with Nerva to read up on different yards. There were four things going for the yard. It wasn’t too far off of the main shipping routes. It was in the asteroid belt with plenty of resources nearby, and it looked to have everything they needed.

              “Why are there so many unknowns about this yard?” Mark asked.

              “When the evaluators look over a yard, they look to make sure that it has the basics, then they pass it off to us for a sale,” Dill said.

              Dill worked for one of the massive fuel suppliers in the system. When Mark signed the contract, he would get a twenty percent reduction if he went with their company as the sole fuel supplier. It was a very lucrative contract for the fuel companies, and one of the reasons that not many people survived with anything that needed that fuel.

              If Mark could grab this yard without the contract, it would take all of his and Jerome’s combined wealth, and put them in debt at about a million apiece. Though, they could then have fuel companies competing for a much reduced contract.

              They came onto the station, and Mark and Tyler pulled their dusters off and put their helmets on. They sealed them, and checked one another before they checked Costa and all of the grandkids. They were teenagers, and Costa drilled into them that they would die if they didn’t do as the adults said.

              They were good with their drills, and it only took about ten minutes before they were ready to get off the shuttle.

              The ramp lowered, and Mark and Jerome went first. Their boots clamped to the metal of the yard as they walked. Their sensors were cranked up to full on their helmets as they gathered information.

              “The yard can make ships from regular shuttles to inner-system freighters. The dimensions of the single yard are seven hundred meters long by one hundred and fifty radius. There is a fabrication factory, living quarters and berths for five shuttles and three freighters. There is one known smelter, and there are cranes and mobile equipment,” Dill rattled on, as he led them through the immense structure. It was eerily quiet and dead. The structural beams shone as they caught light. Rust never found their shining surfaces.

              They walked through, the decompressed living spaces still had some of the last owners’ effects floating around. They moved through, up to the control office, that looked across the yard. The cylindrical dock rested in the middle, it’s skeletal beams wrapping around nothing. To the right, there was the smelter, then factory next to the living quarters. The freighter docking points were there to offload resources. The power plants were also housed there. To the left of the living quarters and command center, there was the shuttle landing pads.

              Mark pulled a power supply from his pocket.

              “Mind if I boot up some of these computers?” Mark asked, as he looked to the command deck.

              “Go right ahead, I believe there is an external power port around here somewhere,” Dill said.

              Jerome moved to a console, opening a panel. “Yup, here it is.”

              Mark moved to it, and plugged in the battery. The kids milled around the windows, taking everything in.

              The electronics powered up in vacuum silence, and their screens lit up Mark’s helmet as he bent over the main table that depicted the entire station. Jerome joined him. Costa looked over the kids.

              Mark opened up a private channel with Jerome.

              “Are those what I think they are?” Mark asked, as he pointed to several symbols at the side of the table. Jerome looked to make sure that Dill wasn’t too interested in what they were doing. He pulled the map down, and looked at the symbols.

              “Well shit, looks like they were trying to build a second much larger berth, plus…” He slid the map again in another direction.

              “They had all of these miners and refiners,” Jerome whistled in his helmet. Mark pushed the map back to focus on the station.

              “Dill, what is the power plant situation?” Mark asked.

              “There are five reactors listed for this site. They will get a full evaluation before start-up and be refueled for you by the Enerport corporation, free of charge with the sale,” Dill rattled off like a good sales rep, complete with a brilliant smile.

              “Damn, that’s pretty good, thanks!” Mark said, faking his excitement. He knew all too well that after the first charge, Enerport would be on them like white on rice.

              He used his implants to connect to the computers, and opened up the logs for fuel consumption. The station didn’t have five reactors - it had eight for the added miners stuck to the asteroids. That’s what killed the last station.

              He brought up the prices on refined materials. An idea was forming in his head.

              “It’s going to take a year or two, but if we get this station, we can survive if we mine our damned hearts out for the first few years of operation and make just a single freighter. Then we use the freighter to transport the refined materials, get more revenue. We also get the already-made parts of the second yard attached. Use the mines to support our ships, then start selling them. I don’t know the numbers, but if we keep increasing mining so that we can support ourselves and keep selling the resources out, we should be set to build this thing up,” Mark said excitedly.

              “You might have a plan there,” Jerome said.

              “We still need to check out the other yards. That way, we can maybe get Dill to go down on the price,” Mark said.

              “Ahh, I knew there was a sly slum dealer in there,” Jerome laughed. “Though, I think it might be best if we let Costa have a crack at it. He’s probably the best heckler I know.”

              “Sounds like a plan to me,” Mark answered.

Chapter 6

             
Resolute station

             
Earth, Sol System

             
3/3206

              Mark walked through
Resolute
station. The EMF’s troopers and personnel moved with purpose, or lounged around on their free time. He felt tension that he hadn’t realized was there as he walked to the cafeteria. Mark and Jerome arrived at the station first.
Reclaimer
’s equipment was getting changed out. It seemed that the higher-ups were throwing everything at the crew, and troopers, to see if they could make them better.

              He and Jerome took their meal trays and headed to their seats. One stripe rested over a single dot on their arm. It signalled their rank as Master Corporals to whoever looked at them.

              “It’s odd you know,” Mark said. His comment made Jerome look up from his food.

              “What is?” Jerome asked.

              “This feels normal now - more normal than being on Earth, and going through the slums and dust while wearing goggles and facemasks,” Mark said.

              “That was what you wanted to say?” Jerome said. He looked irritated as he dug into his food with annoyed scoops.

              “That’s what it’s supposed to be like, makes us want to stay. But after this, they’ll kick us out just like everyone else, just you watch. Then all we’ve got are the plans we just put into place,” Mark said, as he pointed to Jerome with a loaded spoon.

              “You gonna eat that or pour it on the table?” Jerome asked.

              Mark put it in his mouth, answering Jerome’s question.

              They each had more than enough to think about as they ate. In two days’ time,
Reclaimer
would be brought back up to full carrier strength - filled with the men and women that would train to become the most elite clean-up crew the EMF had ever seen.

              “You know that the implanters and the armorers have been given new gear?” Mark asked a few minutes later. His eyes slid over to Jerome before they continued to wander around the room.

              “Yeah, you gonna shove more crap in yourself?” Jerome asked. His eyes made Mark look at him.

              “Yeah, anything that gives me an edge and keeps me alive is worth every cred,” Mark said as Jerome sighed and rolled his eyes. He paused halfway through the motions as his eye caught something.

              “Hmm, you’re not getting them just because you want to get a certain someone’s attention?” Jerome asked, an eyebrow quirked in interest as his eyes seemed to shine. A grin pulled up the corner of his mouth.

              “Huh?” Mark asked, completely blindsided by the question.

              Jerome didn’t answer, but rather turned his head and tilted his head at something behind Mark.

              Mark turned and looked around for what Jerome was pointing out.

              He saw Lucille who waved to him with a grin on her face. He returned the wave and grinned himself. She had just grabbed her meal tray, and was looking for a place to sit. She took the gesture as an invitation, and headed over.

              Mark turned back to Jerome who looked like he was eating real beef. Mark hadn’t seen him this happy in a while.

              “Sadist,” he said under his breath, as he got a wink from Jerome when Lucille reached the table.

              “Hey Mark, mind if I take a seat?” she asked. Her dimples came out as she smiled.

              “Please do,” Mark said with a smile. Lucille was a good looking girl. She was also always smiling, it seemed. It was a change from the company he normally kept. Technically, Tyler was still a damned ball of energy and mischief.

              “This is Jerome, Jerome, Lucille Watabe,” Mark said, making the introductions. “We were just having a conversation about implants. I was trying to talk him into getting some, though he doesn’t like pain much and blood makes him weak at the knees.”

              Mark gave a perfectly consolidating smile towards Jerome.

              Jerome’s curious eyes quickly flickered back in his direction, and it was just fast enough that Lucille didn’t suspect a thing.

              "Good to meet you, Mark's told me about you keeping him alive," Lucille said with a blinding smile.

              “Only good things I hope,” Jerome smiled.

              “Mostly,” She laughed as she cut into her synthesized meat.

              “And for implants or augmentsyou just get knocked out. You’ll never see or hear a thing,” she said, as she turned to Mark with a smile. “It’s what I do to Mark. He and his brother are my biggest customers.” She smiled, as her eyes crinkled in amusement.

              Mark saw the ‘I told you so’ eyes from Jerome, who was chewing on something.

              “Yeah, but I want to be all human,” Jerome said, as his throat cleared.

              “You can always take the implants out. Plus they’ll keep you alive. Living and breathing because of some machines is better than not in my opinion,” Lucille said, her tone light but serious.

              Jerome waved his head in understanding, ending it with a shrug.

              “Well I have reports to fill out. Seeing as Mark already did them all, I’ll let you two have your meal in peace as my human ass finds some way to survive with just my rudimentary systems,” Jerome said. He clearly aimed his jab at Mark, who grinned at the joking comment.

              “Good to meet you Lucille. See you later,” Jerome said as he nodded goodbye, and shot Mark another look.

               “Jerome’s nice, I’m happy he has your back,” Lucille said in a light tone. But Mark sensed something more in it.

             
No? Is she interested in me? Well then.

              “What, don’t think I can’t look after myself?” Mark said with a playful smile.

              “Oh, I know you can’t. I get to see your medical records,” she said, as she looked his body over.

              “That has to be an abuse of medic personnel record-checking,” Mark said with a broadened smile.

              “Not with the amount of times I’ve seen you. It’s like my daily reading material at this point,” she said, as she pursed her lips together and turned to Mark. She cocked her head to one side as her eyes sparkled.

              Something made Mark forget about where he was, and the things he had seen. He couldn’t help but laugh and feel drawn to Lucille.

              “Seems like you do know me inside and out,” Mark said, as he rested a hand on her arm.

              “I know a little bit about a few things,” Lucille said as she ate, and smiled at Mark.