M.J. Markgraf
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Blue Star Enterprises Chapter 2-38
🕑 Added 2024-10-08 16:04:22 +0000 UTCSurprise bonus chapter! This is to celebrate hitting 100 chapters on Patreon. I would have had it out sooner, but RL and dealing with my ISP got in the way.
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Alexander had only planned on spending a day in Varlen initially. Just enough time to let people converse with their families and get responses back. That changed when Captain Na approached him in the engineering section.
“Alex, do you have a moment to discuss something?”
He paused the simulation he had been working on to give Mingyu his full attention. “Certainly, what is on your mind?”
“You recall that I was trying to get my family to come to Eden’s End, right?”
“I do. Your father wasn’t quite sold on the idea if I recall correctly.”
Mingyu laughed lightly. “You could say that. Anyway, I’ve convinced him and the rest of my family to finally make the trip. But he will only do it if he can do so with me as the Captain. Technically, he said ‘my ship’ but I didn’t tell him I wasn’t on the Destiny.”
“We certainly have the room. Are you sure he won’t be upset when he learns you aren’t Captaining the Destiny?”
“I’m sure he will be, but I can deal with that when he arrives. That’s the other thing. The ship he chartered won’t be here for another week.”
Alexander paused to think it over. He assumed, incorrectly, that Na’s family would arrive in Varlen and wait for the Fury to return. Considering there were only military facilities in Varlen, that was a pretty stupid assumption on his part.
An extra week of hanging out in the system wasn’t the worst thing, but it was stretching the time he had allotted to be here. Then again, Na had been instrumental in helping to secure Eden’s End. And from what little he knew of the Mingyu’s father, the man would likely be another valuable asset.
Even then he might have declined to stick around. It wasn’t that he didn’t want Mingyu’s Father and the rest of his family. It was simple practicality. He wanted to return to Yulia as quickly as possible.
The only reason that he was considering it was he still believed Vice Admiral Krieger would reach out. From what Mingyu told him, there seemed to be some politics at play here that Alexander wasn’t privy to, which might be keeping the man from acting.
“Very well. We can remain for a week, but no longer than that. If their ship is late, they will have to wait in a nearby system until you can return to pick them up on the next trip here.”
Mingyu bowed slightly. “Thank you, Alex. I can assure you that you will not regret this decision. My father may seem a bit cold when you first meet him but don’t let his demeanor fool you. Get him talking about a subject that interests him, and he comes alive.”
“I suppose I’ll need to know what those subjects are then,” Alexander quipped.
Mingyu chuckled lightly. “Those are easy enough. He likes talking about minerals, mining, and all things ship-related. I think you two will get along just fine.”
It did sound like they had some things in common. “What of the rest of your family?”
Mingyu sighed. “It will just be my parents, my siblings, and their families. Most of my extended family have gone their own way. Not that I can blame them. It has been over a year since they lost their homes and everything they cared about. I think some blame me as well since I was part of the Council that was supposed to protect them. They know where to find me if they change their mind though.”
“As long as they're willing to work, they will always be welcome.”
***
Alexander had all but given up on Vice Admiral Fletcher out after days of waiting, but he did eventually receive a short message, asking if an official shuttle could dock with Fury. The message didn’t specify that Fletcher would be on this shuttle, but Alexander couldn’t think of anyone else who might want to visit.
Captain Krieger had likely been debriefed by now, so if this was Vice Admiral Fletcher there was no point hiding. He accepted the visit and waited.
Eden’s Fury only had a hangar large enough for one shuttle, so the STO shuttle had to dock at one of the airlocks. All of Na’s crew were in their assigned areas, with the blast doors locked down behind them. If this was some weird attempt to take the ship, The STO was going to find out they made a big mistake.
When he saw a man with greying temples step out of the airlock, flanked by a pair of Marine escorts, and only a pair, the tension he had been feeling faded away. While he was willing to defend what was his, starting a fight with the STO was not on his agenda.
The two Marines locked eyes on him as soon as they stepped out of the airlock. The pair stiffened slightly but otherwise remained quiet and alert as he approached.
“Vice Admiral Fletcher, Welcome aboard Eden’s Fury,” The man didn’t even flinch at Alexander’s appearance as he accepted his outstretched hand with an easy smile.
“Thank you for agreeing to meet with me. After hearing Krieger’s report, I wasn’t sure you would be willing. I apologize if any STO personnel overstepped their bounds while in your care.”
Alexander was surprised by the apology but happy to hear it as Fletcher sounded entirely genuine.
“Apology accepted, Vice Admiral. I’m sure they were just anxious to go home,” he said awkwardly, feeling a bit bad about how he treated the rescued crew of the Dawn now. Instead of dwelling on it, he gestured down a corridor. “If you would follow me, I’ve prepared a meeting room.”
The man gave a curt nod and followed along. “I must say, this ship is quite nice. Did you design it yourself?”
“Thank you. And no, not exactly. I simply restored it to its original condition.”
Fletcher laughed. “There’s no reason to be modest, Mr. Kane. I doubt this old ship was ever this nice when it came off the production line, inside or out.”
Alexander cleared his non-existent throat. “Yes, well, I did add my own flare to things. Here we are,” he said gesturing to the door. “Your men can come inside or wait out here, whichever you wish.”
Without even a nod from the Admiral, the two Marines took up positions on either side of the door with their flechette rifles held low, but ready as they scanned the corridor for danger.
Alexander followed the Vice Admiral into the room, which was large enough for ten people if the original table were still inside. It had been removed and replaced by a smaller table, surrounded by three curved and cushioned benches. The fourth was left out and a short box was in its place so Alexander could sit without looming.
The admiral pointed his thumb to a pot off to the side. “Is that real coffee?”
“I’m afraid not. It’s just caff.”
The man poured himself a cup anyway and inhaled deeply before grabbing one of the pastries from the small selection. He sat on the padded bench opposite him and took a sip of the hot beverage before sighing. “That may only be caff, but that’s better than the stuff we have out here. And the pastry as well,” he added after taking a bite. “I can tell the fruit was made from freeze-dried product, but we don’t even have the luxury of that most times in Varlen. I might have to see if we can trade you for some,” he said with a smile.
“I’m sure you didn’t fly all the way out here just to trade food and drink with Eden’s End.”
The man dabbed his mouth with a tablecloth before responding. “You would be correct. There’s no point hiding this considering you dragged Dawn back here for us. Thank you for that again. I’m sure you’ve managed to figure out we’ve been keeping tabs on your system. And you specifically.”
“It crossed my mind,” Alexander replied. “May I ask why?”
“I think you can guess why, but I’ll tell you anyway. We were monitoring Arkonis Anazi. When his fleet disappeared and returned with only three survivors, the upper brass was understandably concerned. They sent the Dawn out to figure out what happened. They found you and when we realized you had come from Petrov Station, some of the pieces started to come together.”
Alexander frowned. “So it was this Harlow character that sent his brother after me?”
“We don’t know that for certain,” Fletcher stated. “But it’s the most likely explanation. We just couldn’t figure out why Harlow would do something like that. At least until a few days ago.” After he said, that, he looked around at the painted walls of the ship with a knowing smile.
“Yes, he likely wanted me for my engineering skills. I assume you want me for the same thing?”
The man chuckled. “If I thought I could offer you enough money to convince you to work for the STO, I would. But my budget isn’t that large and I doubt you would agree anyway. I do have to ask, did you work for Omni or Sinorus at any point?”
That seemed like a strange question considering Alexander’s previous run-in with Omni. “No, why?”
“No reason, I just had to ask. The engines on this ship. Are they your design?” He was right, the man had scanned his ship with that satellite.
“Yes. And before you ask, they are better than what Omni currently offers for this class of engine.”
It seemed like that wasn’t what the Vice Admiral was going to ask, since his eyes went wide and he choked slightly on the caff. Alexander waited for him to recover. The man coughed a few times as he spoke. “Do you have data to back that claim up?”
Alexander reached over to the holo embedded in the table and activated it. Then he quickly pulled up the file comparing his engine to both the full-sized Omni one and Sinorus one.
The man quickly studied the document before collapsing back into the cushioned seat. “That explains why you wanted out of STO space,” he muttered. “You do know this will put a target on your back?”
“I appreciate your concern Admiral, but I’ll be fine. Perhaps we can get back on track?”
“Yes, sorry. I wanted to offer you a contract to help build a Nyx class ship.”
“Nyx class? I assume that is the designation of your stealth ship?”
“Not the same as the Dawn. These would be light frigate class ships instead of the heavy destroyer designation that the Dawn falls into.”
“I honestly don’t know what to say.”
“You could start with, yes,” the Admiral smiled, earning a deadpan look from Alexander.
He knew what the man was trying to do. He was trying to speed the conversation along so Alexander didn’t have time to think about it. On the surface, it sounded like a good deal. But he didn’t have any details yet. For all he knew, this deal could be a poisoned apple that brought Omni and the STO down on Eden’s End. While he believed the new defenses were strong enough to repel pirates, he doubted it would be enough to survive a concerted effort by either the STO or Omni.
“Why are you asking me to take on this contract? You hardly know me and it isn’t like Eden’s End is equipped to handle production for a ship like that. Not to mention the obvious classified nature of such a project. I’m not even sure you should be telling me about this.”
“You would be correct. The Nyx project is classified. As was the Erebus project. But you’ve already been aboard the ship and have had months to study it at your leisure. I’m sure you’ve learned a few things from it. Not that I can blame you. We would have done the same if we found Eden’s Fury. That being said, it does put you in a unique situation.”
“Oh? How so?”
“You are privy to classified information without being registered in the STO database as having such clearance and you are outside our jurisdiction. To put it bluntly, you’re a ghost, Mr. Kane. To someone like me who runs covert ops and black ops, I will always have a place for ghosts. Now, before you turn me down. I’m not asking you to build the entire ship. We have shipyards for that. What I would like from you is engines. If you weren’t blowing smoke up my ass with those numbers. I would like fifteen engines delivered to Varlen within the year and for each engine delivered, you will earn thirty million credits. What do you say, is that something you could do?”
There were times Alexander was glad he was a robot, this was one of those times. The thirty million price tag was ludicrous. That was easily three times the price of a comparable engine from Omni on the open market. If each frigate took three engines, that made the engines on one ship worth more than the entire sum he spent for Eden’s End.
He didn’t want to ask, but he had to. “Why is the price so inflated?”
“That’s just the way everything works in the military, Mr. Kane. It’s the price for having the best, and keeping it from others.”
“So if I took this deal, I wouldn’t be able to sell to anyone else?” That sounded like a really shitty deal to him.
“Not for that model for at least a year after your last delivery. It will all be in the contract.”
Alexander almost wanted to laugh at that. As soon as Omni got wind of a better engine, they were going to one-up him, making this sale to the STO look like a bad deal on their part. And he was perfectly ok with that. If the contract was worded like he thought it was, then all he needed to do was release a new model as well.
“I need to see the contract before I can agree.”
The man smiled and pulled out a data chip which he placed into the holo. If Alexander hadn’t had Lucas harden the Fury’s systems with his own brand of programming wizardry, he might have been worried about Fletcher sticking an unknown chip into the ship’s system. Still, that wasn’t guaranteed to be one hundred percent effective. When he got back, he was going to separate the meeting spaces like this one with a hard-coded connection that would prevent any data from passing back through it.
Comments
Pholt
"The only reason that he was considering it was he still believed Vice Admiral Krieger would reach out." Fletcher, not Krieger. Krieger is the captain of the damager stealth ship.
Mika Willems
Reminds me of Intel.
Zachary Patterson
Thank you for the chapter!
Mihai Popescu
I get the feeling that Fletcher's end goal is to force competition and he knows full well that Omni could release a better engine if they wanted to. I don't think he's as ignorant as Alexander seems to think he is.
Fortunis
And so it begins. Considering Alex has a full mining ship with capable crew in system and depending on what he bought with his wind fall (besides the Qcomm) his self learning bots are going to make short fucking work of any kind of ship yard or station construction. Especially since he can quite literally download his oldest bots and upload them to any new made bots so there's no learning curve. Then all he needs is more bots and his growth rate for ship construction is literally exponential. His only bottlenecks will be materials acquisition and R&D. This is going to be awesome.
Draxas
Thank you for the extra chapter
Silver Beard
which is all the better- the more complacent they are, the more likely they won't realize they are screwed until it's too late to do anything about it.
Silver Beard
He still needs that station/shipyard blueprint. It would speed up production and help Eden's End immensely.
Duke of Coffee
Sigh OMNI is just sitting on their laurels...
Hammy
Interesting offer. I think Alex could take a 5\10mil hit per engine and ask for a Ship yard design or maybe some piece of gear that would be hard for him to get in it's place. Might be easier for Black Ops to make a item disappear of the books that credits off the books.
underdog121
LEEEETTTTSSS FUCCCCKKKINNNGGG GOOOO
