Arluna System Fuel Dock...
The arrival of a Tyllium Drive warship wasn't news as it might have been in the past. as one of the few sites on this side of the Inner Sphere with the rare and valuable fuel, and with the Kiribati installation on Kowloon, the repair yards and so on, as well as the spreading and growing utilization of Raptors and jump capable fighter designs in the Star League Navy and various 'coast guard' forces, the Trung/Silvermann refineries are one of the nicer amenities a given star system can host-and a major income source for many worlds whose other economic engines had been stalled. The Trung/Silvermann energy corporation was even licensing out the refining technology to 'Franchise holders' in the Federated Suns, and had negotiated partnerships with Falcon Industrials (GMBH), Wolfcorp, and the merchant castes of three other Clans in the homeworlds.
all to fuel the forces hunting Cylons.
at least, officially. Unofficially, Liz owned 30% of the company along with 22% of Ia Drang Aerospace, the primary contractor for "Kobolian Jump Drives" in the Federated Commonwealth and sole source supplier of Raptors to the Draconis Combine through Wakizashi Aerospace.
Liz also funded and fronted New Circe's export efforts, mainly as a competition driver and source of hard, liquid cash for New Circe, but the fuel market in the Inner Sphere was sixty percent owned by Kowloon's Rockjacks. The remaining thirty percent were paying a modest royalty that only covered the initial process tooling-any innovations were not, under contract, owned by either Ngo Industries or their subsidiaries-thus creating a market that pushed innovation and encouraged competition to service the customers.
What her legal department was brutal about, was collecting negotiated fees for patented processes for equipment purchased, rather than developed, and assuring that license fees already negotiated were paid in full, and on time.
the Arluna dock contained a minor shipyard, and a full charging station for standard jumpships, including a safety inspection crew with maintenance personnel. This was simply good business-standard jumpships of a certain...age need and often go without standard annual and periodic maintenance. The Coast Guard docks offer the inspections for free, and generous terms (at times exceedingly generous) on doing the necessary safety checks and welfare maintenance for small operators, thus keeping them in business and reducing both piracy, and accidental losses, which in turn, reduced insurance premiums on routes that included these 'Service Stations'.
making them somewhat in demand as a booster to local economies.
"So who came up with these?" Commodore Ferry asked.
Liz looked thoughtfully out the viewport at the docking station, with its traffic. "I don't remember." she finally said, "I think Li did, but it might have been Pham. we were kicking around ways to get commerce into systems that were falling off the end of bankrupt and cut back on illegal activities. we discussed a couple of merchies that were overdue at the time...oh, I remember, it was Pham. He started really going to town about the terrible shape the smaller outfits were in due to a lack of regular maintenance, the cost of parts, and the high insurance premiums. It all kind of flowed out from there. We added the Tyllium fueling docks after we started selling Raptors to the AFFC and needed to expand refining."
"We? officially you aren't holding controlling interests.."
"I own the debt." Liz said, "Ninety percent of the franchises don't have the liquid cash, so I loan it to them at half a percent interest compounded every five years. I write the losses off on taxes, and pour the profit into my other projects." she turned to the Commodore, "I'm building infrastructure here, I make a small profit, and most of that goes back into it. I employ an army of accountants to keep track of my accountants, but the university is funded, and eventually the loans will pay off, meanwhile we get a little better defense against Entropy. mankind gets a little bit further out of this dark age we're in."
the hull vibrated as the fuel dock connected.
"seems kind of long ranged, Duchess." He said, "You can't expect to see it pay off in a human lifetime."
"I don't expect to live to see it pay off at all." Liz said, "but maybe your grandchildren might, or your great-great-great grandchildren, after we've re-learned everything we lost, and renamed the things we've forgotten."
she checked her watch, "Duty calls."
He joined her, at the Raptor, and they flew across to the Cutter currently 'on duty' in the Arluna system.
"Trau Cuk Ky, the commander of the Sarah Jennings?"
"same guy." Liz asserted, "It was going to be the Nueva Pueblo, like most of the Block 4 Mark Three Sampan class, but then, one of my men decided to put himself, his ship, and his crew between Entropy and a bunch of jumpships, saved them from God's greedy wrath."
The trip over was relatively quick. Ferry noted that the cutter's design was similar to, but completely different from, the Nueva Pueblo that fell through time into New Circe's grasp with 25 Coast Guardsmen who'd just vanished from a nightmare world.
the shuttle bay was clean, swept, and organized, the crew were alive, nobody embedded in a bulkhead, dying horribly, none of the structure was warped or burned. this is what it looked like before...
The presence of Gravity plating showed some of the technical changes. The tan-armored Centurions working with the deck crew were another.
the outer doors closed and the volume pressurized.
"I always love the looks I get..." Liz told him, as she unsealed the hatch.
"ATTENTION ON DECK!!" a Spaceman First shouted, her helmet faceplate JUST unsealed after the lock lights turned green.
"As you were." Liz announced, "Where's the Skipper?"
"Here mum." and Ferry felt his heart stop.
Linda Sithers. Seether...only thirty years younger and without the Flu scarring.
"Lieutenant Commander Sithers! I adore your reports, very concise, very clear."
"Thank you mum...they didn't' warn us until an hour ago you were coming."
"I like to keep it a surprise." Liz said, "This is Commodore Ferry, SLDF New Circe. Commodore, this is Linda Sithers, one of my best people. Where's your aide, Sithers?"
"She's with the Vic, mum, down in sickbay."
"I know my way, carry on with your duties."
Part of Ferry's mind marveled that 'The Seether' had ever been that young, that fresh-faced...or that polite.
"I'll accompany you if that's alright, Mum." Sithers suggested.
"Of course, I may be the owner but she's your boat. Have the JAG officers been by yet?"
"Yes mum, Mister Crane was...theatrical, and Mister Mason was very serious, they were with Captain Truong, from the Spider Moon JAG."
"Excellent!" Liz was clearly pleased. "Did the orders and writs I drafted help in managing that Tharkad-miseducated fool Wilder?"
"Yes'm. Security detachment reports no problems."
"I've half a mind to scare the dogsnot out of him, but two Centurion lawyers plus one of my corporate sharks should do the job nicely..."
If seeing 'young' Linda Sithers was a shock, the Ensign in sick bay, holding a bible and a young girl's hands, was a heart-stopper.
The last time he'd seen her, she was..older, and had died bringing the Testbed One back. it was the funeral. Nicole Minh looked up, and almost bounced off the ceiling with the speed she reached a position of attention. "At ease, Ensign. I see I must have disturbed you." Liz said, nodding to the bible.
"Ma'am, I was..."
"You were, I take it this is Miss MacAulliffe?"
the girl looked up, and her eyes went wide. "The inquisitor!"
"Only the Press calls me that." Liz told her, "How are you feeling, are you being treated well? is the food okay? Listen, you can call me 'Elizabeth'. I'm going to make sure justice is done for you. Pinky-swear it, I will get the bastards that made this happen to you so they can't ever do that to someone else, or someone else's family, ever again."
