Shadow Space Chronicles 1: The Fallen Race (8 page)

"Can we substitute something else for it?" Lucius asked.

"It's theoretically possible," Harbach said.  "We're not using it for its unique properties, but we'd probably have to use platinum."  He turned to a dusty chalk board and began scribbling as he muttered to himself.  "No, no... hmmm."

He turned around, "Well, you know, this is actually very interesting.  We'd have to use about three times as much platinium as palladium, but it might actually increase efficency of the drive by three tenths of a percent!"

Lucius frowned, "That sounds expensive."

"Boss, we're talking metric tons of platinum, that's not expensive; it's financial suicide!"

Jimmy Wiggles hummed to himself and did a little dance as his chalk flashed across a board.  Lucius shook his head, he gestured at Matthew and they stepped out into the hallway, and left the other engineer to scribble and mutter behind.  "Do we have an alternative?" Lucius asked. 

Mathew Nogita hung his head, "I don't know, boss.  It's bad, either way.  We just picked up six more contracts yesterday.  When I went to place the intial orders, that's when I found out."

"So, what are the odds this is random?" Lucius asked.

"I wouldn't put any money on it," Nogita said.  "There just isn't any project going on that would require that much, not unless you were the one doing it."

"So it's sabotage,"  Lucius felt something dark stir in his gut.

Matthew couldn't meet his eyes, "I'm sure whoever's doing it thinks they're just making a bit of money--"

Lucius felt a jolt pass down his spine.  "They're directly jeopardizing the same business that produces fighters to defend their planet.  I don't care who they are, they deserve a quick trial and a quicker execution," Lucius said.  He let out a calming breath, "Very well, so give me an overview of how bad this will be."

"Very bad, boss." Nogita shook his head.  "It couldn't have come at a worse time.  I
just
signed a contract for six ships with Schultz Enterprises.  All six are large freighters, with fifty percent higher a profit margin than our other contracts and a huge bonus for early delivery."

"And a huge penalty for late or non-delivery?" Lucius asked.

"Well, yes, but we haven't had any problems before--"

"Which is why they knew you wouldn't choke on it, especially with the bait of the early delivery bonus."  Lucius grunted, "We've been set up."

Nogita didn't take more than a second to catch on, "Oh, crap.  They bought up all the palladium.  We default on the contract, they bring the whole thing into court."

"How would the courts react?" Lucius asked.

Nogita scowled, "If we got lucky, we'd keep a partial stock in the company and Schultz would 'oversee' our operations, after we built the ships at cost, of course."  He shook his head, "If it goes to a judge Schultz bought, then I'd end up in jail, Schultz would receive the whole company and all our assets."

Lucius nodded, "So... what can we get done with the palladium on hand?"

"That's the problem, the little bit I've got on hand is enough for one engine, we've got five other contracts, twelve ships total, all coming due in the next two months.  That's the early delivery date to Schultz, as well."

Lucius stopped.  He stared out a window, not really seeing the factories or the river or even the shanty town that squatted in the boneyard.  "So we need palladium, and fast.  How about us doing the mining?"

Nogita shook his head, "There's strict import laws.  Add in the time in getting that kind of thing set up, mining the right asteroid and accumulating more than trace elements of it... we just don't have
time
, boss."

Lucius stood silent for a moment.  His eyes followed the course of a laundry line from the shanty town that extended to one of the hulked refugee ships.  Every time he tried to get anything working it seemed more and more like the human race seemed destined for the scrap yard, just like one of those ships.  In a few decades, the handful of survivors would be picking across the skeleton, looking for spare parts...

Lucius' eyes widened, "Parts..."

"Boss?"

"Palladium is used on older ships too?"

"Yeah boss.  Not as much as we need on one of these new ones, but some."

"Go get Harbach, tell the professor we're going on a field trip."

***

The trip took a bit more preparation than Lucius had hoped.  Even so, the next day, he arrived with a small Marine escort at one of the larger refugee ships.

A scrawny boy escorted them into the dimly lit bowels of the old ship.  In a room that had once served as a ship's lounge, Lucius met with two dozen men and women.

They were a mixed lot.  Lucius recognized the scraps of uniform that some of them wore as old merchant uniforms.  Others wore whatever civilian garb they could afford.  A couple looked decently fed.  None of them looked remotely prosperous.

"Good morning," Lucius said, his gaze swept across them all.  "I'm Lucius Giovanni and I have a business deal for you."

"That like the rent we're paying for our landing facilities?" one of the men grumbled.

"Rent?" Lucius asked.  His gaze went to the shanty town beyond the port hole.

"We pay rent for the land we occupy on a per-meter rate." A grey-haired woman said.  Her lined face and hard eyes bored into Lucius.  "Utilities too, if we draw water and power, or a 'safety' fee if we run our reactors and power our recycler systems."

"How can you afford that?" Lucius said.  He couldn't keep the surprise off his face.

"Most of our... benefactors accept manual labor as payment," one of the younger men growled.  He had black hair with a gaunt, pinched face, deeply seamed with lines.  "Of course, they pay us in food for any excess man hours we contribute."

"That's abominable," Lucius said.  He had heard that Faraday's elite used the refugees for labor... but he hadn't expected they paid them in just food. That was almost as bad as some of the worlds with slavery.

"It's that or starve or try to find refuge somewhere else," An older man said.  He looked like one of the few that ate often enough.  His civilian suit looked to be well-cared for, if old.  "Others have left.  Some have returned with tales of piracy and war."

"Just because some people have sold their fellows into slavery doesn't mean the rest of us need to be grateful, Alec!"  The younger man said.  "They may cottle you as their lapdog now, but--"

"You would have done the same had you arrived here generations ago instead of in the last decade, Nyguyen."  Alec responded.  His response started a shouting match between several of the groups.  The babble of different dialects and voices made it almost unintelligible.

"Enough!" Lucius's voice cut through the compartment.  "It's obvious there's bad blood between you and the factory owners... and more between some of you."  He cleared his throat, "I'm in a situation not unlike yours."  He held up a hand before anyone could object.  "I have more resources at my disposal, to be certain.  But I am an outsider, I've come with only my men and my ship and I am without a home to call my own."

Lucius looked around at the faces.  He saw suspicion, cynicism and doubt.  He discarded his original plan to bargain.  While it would probably be cheapest, he would gain no allies and most likely alienate the only faction with which he felt any similarity. 
Besides, these people have been treated like trash, some of them for generations,
Lucius thought darkly. They deserved better than for him to treat them the same.

"The truth of the matter, is that like you, I came here looking for a new life.  As you might know, I put some money into a factory, one whose owner I trust, Mr. Nogita, here."  There were some grunts of acknowledgement.  "When we began to find success, someone set us up.  They've bought up all of the resources we need to finish our contracts.  If we default, then they'll take over the factory."

Lucius saw no softening of any of the audience.  He hadn't expected it.  "So here's my offer.  We need four metric tons of palladium.  We can't mine it, we can't buy it off the market, and we can't import any.  Palladium is found in your ships in the power systems and engines of your ships.  In exchange--"

"You want to gut our ships?!" A big man from the back interrupted.  He barged forwards, "That's all we've got left.  We've sold ourselves and our children into slavery for food, but we will not give up our ships, not for--"

"In exchange, we will refit all of your ships with our new engine systems," Lucius talked over the interruption, his voice level and calm.  "As soon as our current contracts are cleared."

They stared at him in silence.

"Your new drives, they're military grade, aren't they?"  Nyguyen asked.

"They are."  Lucius said.  "To be clear, I'm not offering to do a one-for-one size swap on your ships drives.  The drives we'll build you may be significantly smaller.  But you'll have at least the same acceleration.  We're not custom-building each one, just building a number of identical drive systems, which we'll install for you."

"What if we don't want them installed?" Alec asked.  The expression on his face suggested that the drives would be sold... and the money would go towards himself, rather than any refugees that he managed.

Lucius grimaced, "If you want to sell the drive rather than install it, that's up to you.  The installation is a one time deal, though."

The big man who'd interrupted snorted, "His ship's in such bad shape at this point it won't hold air, much less lift off the ground."

The old man looked around at the others, "As long as we can get some kind of assurances as to the validity of the agreement, then I will go along with this."  He smiled nervously, "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll speak with my engineer to make preparations."

Lucius watched Alec step out with narrow eyes.  A man who'd sold out his own people would have no hesitation about selling out someone else.  He made a mental note to have someone keep an eye on him.

"I'm certain each of you will have to speak with your crews and your passengers about this decision.  It will be at least two months before I'll be able to make good on the offer," Lucius said.  "As a proof of my intentions, you may select two of your number to monitor our construction.  Additionally, we'll probably be hiring, and paying cash, for anyone willing to work hard and help to get our current construction completed.”

The group still looked distrustful, if not as hostile as before.

Lucius nodded at them, "Contact me with your decisions by tomorrow morning."

On his way out, he noticed the decay of the ship even more.  The tired, miserable faces that peered at him from the corridor seemed even more downcast and afraid.

"Hey!"

Lucius turned.  The big man and Nyguyen both approached wearily, their eyes on the pair of Marines flanking Lucius.  "Yes?

"I was wondering," the big man said.  "Those enlistment advertisements you've been running, are they open to us too?"

"What?" Lucius asked.

"What my friend Aaron Dallas means," Nyguyen offered, "is that the Faraday Defense Force doesn't allow non-citizens to join their ranks... not even to enlist."

"Bastards don't even let us own weapons," Dallas said.  "That was one of the terms for our entry.  They also disarmed any defense systems aboard ship."

Lucius shook his head, "That's ridiculous."  Even after the Imperial Security Act, Nova Romans retained the right to bear personal weapons.  To disarm whatever pitiful weapons a freighter might carry was not just ridiculus, it was insulting.

“The recruitment is open to all who apply.  I'll take anyone willing to serve, you can tell your people that.”  Lucius shook his head, “And I'll treat every recruit the same.  They'll receive the same pay, same food, and same quarters as any other recruit.”

***

September 27, 2406

Faraday System

Unclaimed Space

“
So, Matthew, what's the news?” Lucius asked.  After almost a month of work, and what had looked like tens of thousands of man-hours of labor, his business partner looked exhausted. Lucius had been more deeply involved in the training of the new recruits than he had expected.  Fortunately, Major Proscia's Marines and a select group of ship's crew had served admirably in the basic training.

Where Lucius had worked hardest was with his remaining officers in the selection of recruits for officer training.  They'd studied the recruits and looked for that spark of initiative and the ability to think outside the box. They didn't have time to put them through months or years of additional training, they needed the best and most capable to fill the roles right away.  Those recruits received additional training, and Lucius had been personally involved in many of the classes and exercises.

His experience at the Nova Roma Military Academy had proven an excellent resource to draw on.  Lucius had discovered that some part of him actually
liked
teaching, especially to enthusiastic students.  He had a training exercise to attend later in the day and Lucius actually looked forward to it... and to the nasty surprises he and Anthony Doko had worked up.