“We’ve had spacers living in that ship for weeks. Won’t it have been destroyed?” Natalya asked.
“You’re the engineer,” Zoya said. “Have we taken on fuel? Water? Done anything with the scrubber cartridges?”
“We changed a few,” Natalya said. “Other than that? No.” She looked at the chief. “It never occurred to me and it should have.”
“You’ve been a bit preoccupied,” the chief said. “So have we or I’d have been here sooner.”
“We bagged all the personal effects we found when we came aboard. I think they’re still stacked in engineering berthing,” Zoya said.
“You didn’t toss them?” the chief said.
“We weren’t sure that we wouldn’t need them. The barge crews had just what they took with them. At the time we didn’t have regular runs to Mel’s or a tractor fetching printer feed stock from Dark Knight,” Zoya said.
“Excellent,” the chief said.
“They’re probably contaminated by the people who handled them,” Zoya said. “Maybe you can find something useful in the bags.”
“I’m sure they’re contaminated,” Stevens said, taking a long pull off her mug. “We can work around that.”
“What’s the request?” Zoya asked.
“You’re going to let me take the Mindanao?”
Zoya shrugged. “Of course. You’ll have to tow it out of here but you knew that.”
“Actually, I’m planning to fly it out if you can spare Natalya to help me.”
Zoya looked at Natalya. “You busy?”
Natalya laughed. “How are you going to fly it out of here? It’s missing half its Burleson emitters and the hull they’re supposed to be tied to.”
“It’s a little project I’ve been working on,” Stevens said, leaning across the table. “We run into this all the time. Ships collide, have problems and lose part of their hulls, scrape a station and break off the emitter pylons.”
Natalya nodded. “I’ve heard of it. Didn’t know it was a major problem.”
“It is for the people on those ships,” Stevens said. “And for the shippers they belong to.”
“How can I help?” Natalya said.
“I’ve developed a ... well ... call it a life jacket. But for ships.”
Natalya blinked. “You’ve got my attention.”
Zoya held up a hand. “If I could interrupt for a moment. It’s about to get all engineer-y in here and I’d like to know what the favor is? It’s not the life jacket testing, right?”
Chief Stevens nodded and sat back in her chair. “You’re right. It’s not. The favor is that I’d like to give some of my pilots a place to—shall we say—practice?”
Zoya nodded. “I didn’t see that coming, but it makes sense.”
“It’s one thing to have them doing maneuvers in an empty system, but something else to do it where there are actually other ships.”
“Ships that don’t know these pilots are—as you say—practicing?” Zoya asked.
Stevens smiled. “Precisely.”
“Could I make some assumptions about defensive measures?” Zoya asked.
“I couldn’t, of course, comment on what these pilots may or may not be capable of.”
Zoya smiled. “Of course.”
“You have no objections?” the chief asked.
“None. I’d be happy for your pilots to use this system as a training ground. There will be a lot of activity here with barges and haulers coming and going. To say nothing of the Manchester Yard going in next year.”
Chief Stevens’s eyes widened only slightly at that last statement. “Even better,” she said.
Zoya shrugged and drained her coffee mug. “If there’s nothing else, Chief? I’ll leave you to talk dirty with Natalya. She’s been trying to figure out how to get that ship out of here for weeks.”
The chief stood with Zoya and they shook hands across the table. “It’s been lovely catching up with you. When you can, I’d love for you to come visit us at Port Lumineux.”
“Perhaps we will. I have some questions about those Carstairs people.”
The chief’s lips twitched and her eyes danced. “Questions I may not be able to answer, but if there answers to be found, they’ll be in Port Lumineux.”
Natalya watched Zoya leave and heard the lock cycle. “What’s this about Carstairs?”
The chief took a sip of her coffee. “Seems that brother and sister raised some flags with our mutual friend.”
“She seemed nice,” Natalya said.
“And did he?”
Natalya frowned. “He seemed a little weird. It felt like he was trying to pick me up or something when we first met. When Zoya joined us, it was like somebody flipped a switch on him. Barely spoke. Watched his shoes like he was afraid somebody would steal them off his feet.”
The chief’s eyebrows rose a little higher with each statement. “Well, well. You had me at ‘barely spoke.’ If there’s one man who never heard a word he didn’t like when it came out of his own mouth, it would be him.” She settled back in her chair and tapped her lips with the edge of her index finger. “Very interesting, indeed.”
“Life jacket for ships,” Natalya said.
The chief grinned. “Yes, I need your help. You interested?”
Natalya leaned forward and waited.
Chapter 58
Smelter Seventeen:
2368, July 10
Zoya’s tablet bipped her on the Mindanao’s mess deck just as she was finishing up breakfast. Having the Ally Wishes running supply runs made a huge difference. Being so close to the Ranch gave them access to great food. Natalya and Zoya made it over to breakfast as often as they could.
Natalya looked up at the sound. “What’s up?”
“Ahokas. A fast packet just dropped into the system. About two days out.”
“We aren’t expecting anybody, are we?”
Zoya shook her head. “We’ll want to meet this one.” She looked up from her tablet. “I think it’s my grandfather.”
“Now?” Natalya asked.
“Well, he comes and goes as he pleases, being head of operations and all,” Zoya said. “If nothing else, he knows how to run a grinder and a smelter.”
“That’ll be a help.”
“I’m with you on why now, though. We’ve needed him before. I’ve needed him before,” Zoya said, correcting herself.
“Clearly not the case,” Natalya said. “You may have thought you needed him, but I think you did fine on your own.”
“I just hope he agrees.”
“What’s the worst that can happen?” Natalya asked with a grin. “What’s he going to do? Fire you?”
Zoya shook her head. “No. The worst that could happen? I don’t even want to think it.”
Natalya asked, “Why? What do you think is the worst?”
“He gives it to me.”
“Gives what?”
“This system,” Zoya said.
“You can handle it,” Natalya said. “You’ve proved that.”
“That’s what worries me,” Zoya said. “How soon before our neighbor wants the Mindanao?”
“Not for a few months yet. We’ll have everybody off it in a couple of weeks if the Higbee people are right.”
“They’re starting installation of the residence in a couple of days,” Zoya said. “Think it’s a coincidence?”
Natalya let that idea percolate for a moment. “Now that you mention it. No.”
“Me, either.”
For all Zoya’s trepidation about having her grandfather visit, Natalya wouldn’t have been able to tell she was worried by the way she hugged him when he stepped through the lock. The old man wasn’t very sad-looking, either. His smile crinkled every wrinkle on his face.
“So, what brings you to our little corner of the annex, Pop-pop?” Zoya asked.
“Just thought I’d stop by. See how things were going. It’s hard to get a good feel for it from so far away.” His smile never faded bu
t his gaze swept the cramped marshaling yard. “Come on aboard. Let’s do a little catching up, shall we?” He looked at Natalya. “You’re invited, Ms. Regyri.”
“Our week for visiting other ships,” Zoya said and nodded at Natalya.
“You’ve had other visitors?” Konstantin asked.
“Virtual merry-go-round of them,” Natalya said.
Konstantin stopped short and looked at Natalya. “Really?”
Natalya laughed. “No. We have some ships running cargo for us. I’m sure Zee has a full report ready for you.” She looked at Zoya and winked.
Zoya shrugged.
“Well, I’m ready to hear it. Come on. I’ve got some fresh coffee brewed and need help drinking it.”
They settled around the small galley table while Konstantin distributed cups and coffee around. “There’s some cookies here somewhere,” he said, rummaging through the cabinets. “Ah. Special gift from Genevieve. She made me promise not to eat them all before I got here.” He pulled a sealed container out of a cupboard and brought it to the table. He pulled the top off and revealed half a box of vanilla cookies inside. The sweet smell wafted over Natalya and her mouth filled with saliva. She had to take a sip of the coffee so she wouldn’t drool.
Zoya cast a critical eye into the box. “She sent a half a box?”
Konstantin grinned. “I only promised not to eat them all.” He snagged one and then slid the container across the table. “It’s a long way from Margary. What was I supposed to do?”
Zoya laughed and grabbed one before sliding the box on to Natalya. “Did you come alone?”
“No,” he said, casting an eye toward the galley door. “Your grandmother is still at Big Rock, of course, but I’ve got a couple of people who know how to run a grinder and a concierge for the residence. Between them, they’ll be able to verify the installations and begin to get things moving here on the right foot. They’ll join us in a bit. I wanted some time to catch up with you first. The bus is coming along in a few days. Five full crews for the barges and some extra hands so you can swap crews about on the haulers if you need them.”
Zoya nodded. “Thank you, Pop-pop. That’s going to help a great deal.”
He nodded and included Natalya in his warm smile. “So, tell me how it’s been out here trying to recover from the worst disaster Usoko Mining has ever had.” He settled back. “Tell me everything. No pressure. Take your time.”
“I sent you a report,” Zoya said.
“I read it. Now tell me. How did all those people die? Why did all those people die?”
Zoya sighed and ran a hand across her eyes. “Short answer, quickly. Very, very quickly. Why? Greed.”
Konstantin didn’t quite flinch but his affable manner turned cold, like somebody left the lock open and the cold of space had blown through. “Tell me,” he said. “Tell me everything.”
It took a while. Zoya brought Natalya into the discussion for her perspectives. Konstantin sat, listening, through the whole thing. Natalya found his focus disconcerting at first but soon got so wrapped up in recounting the various escapades, she all but forgot he sat across the table from them.
“So, that’s about it. Higbee claims they’ll have the residence ready by tomorrow but even if it’s the day after, it won’t make much difference. We’ve got people bunking in the hull over in the storage yard. The people from Port Lumineux want to take it for forensic analysis and Natalya’s going to help fly it over.”
“Without Burleson emitters?” he asked.
“They have a plan for that. We need to get the people off first,” Natalya said.
Konstantin nodded. “Makes sense.” He sat in silence for almost a full tick, gazing at the table top in front of him. He raised his coffee cup and seemed to realize it was empty only when it was halfway to his mouth. He refilled it and held the pot out toward Natalya and Zoya. Zoya took the offer but Natalya covered her mug with a hand.
“I’m good for now,” she said.
Konstantin settled back in his chair and leaned his forearms on the table. “Thank you. Both of you,” he said, his gaze sweeping them. “When we got the initial word, I don’t mind telling you I was devastated. We’ve never lost a whole station like that. Never. Sure, it was a pilot project, but it had already proven itself.” He sighed and shook his head. “Friends gone. Poof. People I’d worked with for decades.” He took a deep breath and looked across at Zoya. “You not only took command of the situation, you kept a disaster from becoming even worse.” He shook his head and looked down at the table again. “I knew it was bad, but I didn’t really understand just how bad.” He paused, not looking up. “Well done. Both of you. Well done.”
“Can I ask a question?” Zoya asked.
He looked up. His face looked, suddenly, much older. His eyes tired and his shoulders slumped. “Yes. Of course.”
“When is Manchester due in?”
A tiny smile grew at the corners of his mouth. “I told her you’d figure that out.”
Zoya raised an eyebrow.
“Eight months. February, March. Something like that. Depends on how fast we get up to speed.”
“You already had the new station spec’d out with Higbee?”
He shook his head. “Not completely. When your grandmother saw your proposal to go full vertical with alloy production and metal forming, she got Jonas Maguire on the horn and added everything you asked for. That’s why there’s a delay between the metal former and the alloy tower.”
“She called the chairman of Higbee?”
Konstantin grinned. “Your grandmother. You thought she’d call a salesman?”
Zoya laughed a tired laugh. “No. Of course not, but I’d have thought she’d at least call the CEO first. What would you have done if I’d started Bean on a custom build? I didn’t even know Higbee made prefabs.”
“No,” he said. “You didn’t but when you found out, what did you do?”
“Scrapped the custom build and ordered the first pieces from Higbee,” she said.
“Why?” he asked leaning forward into the table.
“We didn’t need a custom gee-whiz station. We needed a functioning station fast.”
“And in spite of your own ideas on the subject you took the advice of a hired hand?”
Zoya frowned at him. “What the hell kind of question is that? No, I didn’t take the advice of a hired hand. I got good advice from somebody who knew what the hell he was talking about and I took it. It was the right thing to do.”
Konstantin smiled. “Indeed,” he said. He looked at Natalya. “Next time you think to launch yourself into the void without a safety line? Don’t.”
“I wasn’t thinking about it,” Natalya said.
Konstantin nodded. “I understand but you need to be alive to watch out for this one.” He nodded at Zoya. “She needs you around, not frozen into some corpsicle.”
Natalya swallowed. “Fair enough. I hate getting out and walking anyway.”
Konstantin chuckled for a moment and then looked at Zoya. “So, we have a grinder and smelter to test, yes?”
“We do.”
“Let’s get into your shuttle, then, and take Lindley over to see what’s what, shall we?”
Chapter 59
Smelter Seventeen:
2368, July 10
Don Lindley walked the length of the control room, examining everything as he went. He spent some time peering up at the grinding tower through the armorglass. “Standard Higbee plug and play,” he said. “They’re really reliable. Good choice. This size should do. Let’s fire it up, shall we?” He reached for the console and started typing commands. After a few lines he paused. “Nothing’s happening. Something’s not right.” He turned to look at Zoya and Natalya while Konstantin leaned back against a bulkhead near the entrance. “Am I locked out?”
Zoya nodded. “Yes.”
“Can I ask why?” The man, something north of forty stanyers and prosperously well-padded about the middle, seemed a bit peeved jud
ging from the color rising up the back of his neck.
“I need you to certify that this installation is correct and safe to operate.”
He glanced at Konstantin who stared back at him. “That’s what I’m trying to do.”
“You haven’t inspected the installation,” Zoya said. “How do you know it’s ready to run?”
“Well, it’s obviously a Higbee job. They do quality work. What? You’re suggesting I go out there and inspect it?”
Zoya nodded. “Yes, actually.”
“Are you serious?” he asked.
“Mr. Lindley, at the moment I’m the person in charge of bringing this facility online. More than two hundred of your fellow employees have already died in this system. I don’t want that number to get any higher. If you start that grinder without validating the installation by personally inspecting it, then you can’t know for certain that it’s safe to operate, can you?”
“With all due respect—”
“Stop right there,” Zoya said, taking two steps closer to him. “Take your ‘due respect’ and shove it up your ass. You don’t mean to give me any due respect. You’re trying my patience by refusing to do the job my grandfather dragged you halfway across the Western Annex to do. Now I may not know how to do that job but I damn well know what has to be done. That does not include taking on faith that a contractor has correctly assembled a multimillion credit machine that grinds big rocks into little rocks in a zero-g vacuum. If your assumption is wrong, the price could well be your own life. I will not have it. I haven’t gotten this project this far just to have some horse’s ass who’s made an assumption that the boss’s granddaughter doesn’t know what she’s doing break it all again. Do I make myself clear, Mr. Lindley?”
He swallowed but made the mistake of looking at Konstantin.
“Don’t look at me,” Konstantin said. “You’re the one digging your own grave.”
“You’re fired, Mr. Lindley,” Zoya said.
He stood up. “I don’t work for you. I work for him.” He pointed at Konstantin.