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CHAPTER 5 – A BRAND NEW SHIP
09:45 (Universal Time)
Monday, October 25, 2315
New bow gravity sail deck, Level 16
MSS KOSTROMA, main dry dock
Avalon Space Yards complex, Earth orbit
Gustav Shomberg, touring with Tina the new bow gravity sail deck’s main floor, threw his arms up in a gesture of enthusiasm as he looked around him.
‘’You told me before about what you wanted to do with all this extra volume, but THIS is way beyond my wildest expectations, Tina.’’
Tina smiled proudly at the compliment while also admiring the more than seven hectares of temperate broadleaf and mixed forest ecosystem, complete with a mix of more than 180 young balsam firs, red maples, American helms, red oaks and red spruce trees and a thick carpet of bushes and long grass, that filled this section of the new deck. Four such sections took most of the volume of the deck, each separated by transparent bulkheads to protect them from being all devastated by a single hull breach. Two of those sections contained temperate broadleaf forests, while the two others contained boreal forests, each section covering 7.5 hectares of grounds. Overhead, fifty meters up, plasma display screens simulated a sunny sky with dispersed clouds, while a sprinkler system was meant both to simulate rainfall and to combat any fires inside the sections. Hidden giant air blowers simulated variable winds, while recorded bird songs and other forest noises were played continuously. Right now, in the middle of this section, one would be hard pressed not to think of being in a real forest.
‘’Wait a few years, when all those trees will have time to grow more, Gustav. I bought them at the maximum age that they could still be transplanted, but they still will need decades to be fully grown.’’
‘’It is already magnificent, Tina.’’ Said Shomberg while admiring the trees and vegetation around him. ‘’This must have cost you a fortune.’’
‘’Nothing like what the refit cost me, Gustav, but I did invest a few tens of millions credits in this and on the giant aquariums around the outside periphery of this deck. On 105
the other hand, having these ecosystems aboard will be priceless for me and my crew when stuck in space for months on end. Their effect on the morale of the crew and of their families will be well worth the price and effort. I also used our refit time to find and hire a few good forestry experts and agronomists, plus more hydroponics technicians and workers to take care of the 250 extra hectares of hydroponic cultures that fill the eight levels of the stern gravity sail deck. With those extra cultures and the dairy and poultry farms down there, this ship’s crew will be nearly self-sufficient in basic foodstuffs.
We will in essence be like an oasis of life in the middle of space. The only thing we will still have to procure regularly will be meat products, fresh fish, spices and salt.’’
‘’Well, with this and with your new engines and gravity sails, your ship will be in a class by itself, Tina. Oh, talking of ship class…’’
Searching in a pocket of his coverall, Shomberg took out a data chip and handed it with a serious expression to a curious Tina.
‘’I predicted to you last March that things between Earth and us Spacers would sour, and that we would need to be ready for a confrontation. Well, the events of the last months certainly point to approaching bad blood and I wish you to be fully prepared for the unpleasantness to come, Tina. I saw yesterday that your crew already completed most of the installation and connection of the laser conduits for your secret weapon batteries. The information on this data chip will help you in how best to use them if things go South.’’
‘’What is it exactly, Gustav?’’
‘’The complete specifications and technical layouts of the main classes of ships used by the Terran Customs Navy, along with the specifications of their missiles and rail gun systems. When the TCN asked the Avalon Space Yards to do refit work on their ships, they gave me those plans and specs so that the yard could plan the refit work and then conduct it. When they cancelled the refit contract, they took back their data…but not before I could copy it.’’
Tina looked at the ship designer with wide eyes while taking the data chip.
‘’But, if the TCN learns about this, you could be arrested, even executed.’’
‘’Then, make sure that they don’t learn about it from you. On my part, I erased all remaining traces of that data on my computer and nothing can now point to me, apart from you and that chip.’’
Tina nodded while eyeing Shomberg with a mix of concern and gratitude.
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‘’Be sure that I will put this data to good use, Gustav. I will transfer that data to another chip and then erase this one and destroy it, so that the evidence trail can’t get to you.’’
‘’That would be appreciated, Tina. By the way, I have another gift for you.’’
The engineer then took out a second data chip, this one marked with the letters ‘LP’, and gave it to Tina.
‘’This chip contains the detailed instructions on how to modify standard life pods with common existing parts and turn them into short range space missiles. Your engineers and technicians should have fun with that. I also included the algorithms used by the TCN in their missile guidance systems. I believe that you did purchase a few spare life pods, along with the backup inventory of spares for your new engines.’’
‘’Gustav, I could kiss you!’’
‘’And what is stopping you, Tina?’’ Replied the engineer, smiling. That got him a friendly hug and kiss on the cheek from her.
‘’This data is easily worth ten times its weight in gold. Be assured that I will use it well.’’
‘’And you will need it, Tina. Mark my words.’’ Said Shomberg, serious.
The next day, having transferred the last payment for the refit work into the yards’
account, a happy Tina and her complete crew took their ship out of the pressurized dry dock and into space for nearly two weeks of post-refit trials. While the KOSTROMA made a test run to Mercury, the ever resourceful Piotr Romanski did not waste time before starting to look for a profitable cargo hauling contract for their improved ship.
13:40 (Universal Time)
Monday, November 8, 2315
Office of the Governor of Mars
Ares City, Valles Marineris region
Mars
Charles Watts was mostly an unhappy man these days, with things certainly not improving at the moment. Turning away from the screen of his office computer for a moment to rest his eyes a bit, he tried also to calm his mind down but was not very successful at that last task. The last federal budget amendment, which he had been 107
reading, was like a bodily blow to him and to all the other Martians. Watts could have lived, grudgingly though, with most of what was in it, but one item had filled his stomach with acid: all federal funds for the Mars Terramorphing Project, or MTP in short, were now cut. For Watts, that was more than simple meanness on the part of Grand Administrator Li: it was also an act of criminal stupidity. The MTP had been running for over 86 years now and would still take nearly two centuries of hard work to be completed, but the final product could well be the long term salvation of Humanity: a Mars transformed into a hospitable planet with a breathable atmosphere. Mars, with 186
million inhabitants, was already the second biggest concentration of humans after the Earth, but it would be able to support much more once the MTP had been completed.
The problem was that, without federal funds, there was little hope of ever finishing the job. Watts would need to cut his own budget to the bone in order to allow the work on the project to continue, but at a reduced pace only. His only other hope was to get some financial support from other Spacer administrations, but that also was improbable. All the other Spacer governors had been similarly squeezed progressively during the last months by Li’s transfer of money from space programs to food and housing subsidies for the Earth’s masses.
Watts, a man of 62 who was starting to be slightly overweight, thought long and hard about how to undo the long term disaster that represented this latest federal budget amendment, but could not think of any way. The only solution would be to convince Li and his cabinet to recall and cancel that amendment, something Watts knew was not likely to happen. He finally accepted the bitter fact that he, by himself, could do little against the budget amendment. Mars alone did not have the kind of leverage on Earth needed to get its way in this. Watts then thought about the secret correspondence he had kept in the last few months with Governor Robeson and other Spacer administrators. Robeson had been advocating an alliance of all Spacers to counter the disastrous economic and social policies of the Terran Federation Council. Maybe this was now the time to make such an alliance a reality. Things would however have to be planned carefully and with caution, the Terran Federation having numerous spies and observers on Mars and around the Solar System. For one thing, Watts knew that if he openly traveled to Jupiter to have talks with Robeson, Li would immediately be on the alert and could even react violently to break up any Spacer alliance before it could have a chance to solidify. His mind made up, Watts called by intercom for his personal aide to 108
come in. She took only a few seconds before walking in briskly, the perfect image of the executive secretary as most men thought they should be: tall, beautiful and competent.
Laura Jennings was all that, but she was also utterly loyal to Watts, having worked for him for years and sharing the same dreams as Watts. The one thing she did not share with him though was his bed, contrary to the rumors and insinuations.
‘’You need something, sir?’’ Asked Laura in her soft, sexy voice.
‘’Yes, Laura. I believe that Governor Robeson’s idea of a Spacer alliance now needs to be seriously discussed…in person. I need you to find discreetly for me a fast ride to Jupiter, with departure in the next few days. I don’t want Grand Administrator Li to learn about this trip. Cook up a story as well that would explain my absence for office for a few weeks. You will also be going to Jupiter, by the way.’’
‘’How many more people will be accompanying us to Jupiter, sir?’’
‘’Just my two personal bodyguards and my runabout pilot. I am sure that Governor Robeson will loan me some clerical support personnel once on Callisto Prime.’’
His executive secretary then smiled in apparent amusement.
‘’You know what people could say if you disappear somewhere with me in tow, sir.’’
Watts smiled in turn.
‘’Hell, that could actually be a good cover story by itself! And do not book passage on a cruise liner, please: too many people would instantly recognize me and the news would be out in a second.’’
‘’Understood, sir. I will be as discreet as possible.’’
The young woman then walked out of Watts’ office, leaving the governor alone with his thoughts.
14:19 (Universal Time)
Friday, November 12, 2315
Bridge of the MSS KOSTROMA
Docking Station Seven, Ares orbital terminal Mars orbit
‘’Are these damn Terran customs inspectors off the ship yet?’’
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‘’Thankfully, yes, Tina!’’ Answered Patricia O’Neil. ‘’They went back to the terminal via the port communications tube ten minutes ago.’’
‘’Good! They wasted way too much of our time, inspecting what is nothing more than a cargo of specialty steel and aluminum products. What the hell did they expect to find? Contraband drugs?’’
‘’Maybe they were hoping for a bribe from us to make them speed up their inspection?’’ Suggested in jest Frida Skarsgard, sitting at her pilot’s station. That brought a grimace to Tina’s face.
‘’As if these new, heavier customs fees don’t feel like bribes to me. They cost us a good ten percent of our profit margin for this hauling contract.’’
Tina then activated her intercom, calling Denise Lonsdale on the Warehouse Deck.
‘’Denise, how is the loading doing?’’
The voice of the ship’s cargomaster was nearly drowned out on the intercom by the noise of a heavy forklift passing near Lonsdale.
‘’All the outside cargo containers are already hooked up and secured, Tina. I will only need about two more hours to finish loading those giant spools of steel wire. The final gross mass of our load for this trip will be 9.62 million metric tons.’’
‘’Well, steel is not as glamorous or profitable as iridium, but over nine million tons of it should impress about anybody. Just tell me as soon as you are finished, Denise.
The few passengers who booked passage on this trip are already aboard, except for one late one we are still waiting for.’’
‘’I believe that our late passenger is finally showing up, Tina.’’ Said Patricia O’Neil, having just received a radio transmission. ‘’He called in to ask to board with his runabout directly in our small craft hangars.’’
‘’Give him the go ahead, Patricia, then inform Natalia of this, so she could have someone escort that passenger to his cabin.’’
‘’Will
do!’’
Tina sat back in her command chair, watching her bridge crew at work. Up to now, her improved ship had performed as well as she had hoped for and had proved to be extremely economical to operate, apart from being very fast and responsive for a heavy cargo ship. This would be the first commercial trip of the KOSTROMA since the completion of its refit, but the executives of the Jovian Shipping Lines were already very happy with the results. In fact, the KOSTROMA was now truly the ship of choice for 110
certain types of cargo hauling contracts, one of which was the fast hauling of super heavy or outsize loads on long and very long distances. Some other cargo ships could haul as much as the KOSTROMA, but none as fast or as economically than Tina’s ship.
When you dealt with millions of tons of cargo, even a difference of one credit per ton in the cost of transportation represented in the end a very sizeable sum. A few rival shipping companies were already crying foul about this, which suited Tina just fine.
She was still thinking about that when Natalia Vasilyeva called her by intercom, appearing somewhat disturbed.
‘’Tina, this is Natalia. I am with our last passenger on the Hangar Deck. He wants to speak to you.’’
Before Tina could ask why, a man’s face replaced that of Natalia on the intercom’s screen. Tina, who was well informed on public affairs, recognized the man immediately and nearly shouted in surprise.
‘’Governor
Watts?’’
‘’Shhh! I am trying to travel incognito, Captain.’’ Said Watts with a conspiratorial smile. ‘’I would like it if you could find me a cabin where I would not pass by too many other passengers. I also have my personal aide and three male employees with me.’’
‘’Well, the cells in the ship’s brig are quite intimate but I believe that they would not do in this case, sir.’’ Replied Tina, joking. Watts laughed briefly at that.
‘’I believe they would not, Captain.’’
‘’Well, then I would say that I have one place that could fit your needs, sir. I am coming down to escort you.’’
Jumping out of her command chair, Tina ran to the elevator banks adjacent to the bridge and took a cabin down to the Hangar Deck, 120 meters below the bridge. By the time she arrived there, Natalia Vasilyeva had already put the luggage of Governor Watts and of his employees on an anti-gravity cart. Watts shook Tina’s hand as soon as she braked to a halt in front of him.
‘’Captain Forster, it is a pleasure to meet you. I must say that your ship is very impressive.’’
‘’Thank you, Governor. May I ask what is your final destination?’’
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‘’Callisto Prime. I wish to go speak secretly with Governor Robeson about some delicate matters. Would it be possible a bit later for me to send a message to Governor Robeson, anonymously of course?’’
‘’It certainly is, Governor. First, let’s get you a discreet place to stay for you and your assistants. Follow me, please.’’
Watts did so without further ado, his assistants and Natalia and her cart on his heels.
Tina led them to the central shaft that ran all the way from bow to stern but, instead of taking one of the elevators with doors opening on the central rotunda, used a door that led inside the central shaft itself. A surprised Watts followed her on a metallic gratings floor and through a rather narrow passage, to an elevator tube running inside the central axis shaft. Tina explained herself as they waited for a cabin to come to their level.
‘’This elevator tube is used only by crewmembers on maintenance duty and no passengers ride it…normally. I will now lead you up to Level 16, where our new Bow Gravity Sail Deck is situated. There, we have hundreds of still unoccupied cabins that are not yet finished furbishing, except for a handful of them. You will be able to lodge in one of those cabins, away from the other passengers. We also can bring you your meals there, if that would suits you, sir.’’
‘’It certainly would, Captain. Thank you for your comprehension.’’
Once at the level of the Human Services Deck, the group exited the cabin and took one of the four large corridors leading outwards, walking quickly to avoid crossing path with other occupants. Tina stopped once at the end of the corridor, which joined another corridor forming a closed loop along the periphery of the section, and smiled to Watts.
‘’Originally, a few months ago, we would now be near the outer hull of my ship.
However, the KOSTROMA just came out of a major refit about two weeks ago. Part of that refit was the addition of a new, saucer-shaped section ringing this deck. The cabins you will occupy are along the outer periphery of that section.’’
Tina then activated a heavy armored sliding door, opening it and entering a huge open space. Watts took a few steps before stopping, stunned but also pleased by what he saw.
‘’My God! A forest in space! We have a few transplanted forests and gardens in underground habitats on Mars, but having this on a ship…’’
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‘’You will actually be able to enjoy the sight of that forest every day during your trip, sir: your suite, like the others on this deck, has a balcony overlooking the forest habitat. Talking of suite, the few apartments ready for occupation on this deck include a variety of one, two, three and four-bedrooms suites. Would you prefer separate places for you and your people, or one four-bedroom suite for your whole group, sir?’’
Watts was thoughtful for a moment while looking at his senior bodyguard.
‘’Well, my guess would be that Mister Baranovich, as my senior bodyguard, would object to have me at any distance from his vigilant sight. I will also be using our trip to prepare a few political statements and proposals, so I will also need the constant presence of my personal aid, Miss Laura Jennings. And no, I don’t need her for other purposes, Captain Forster.’’
The last sentence, told with a smile, was taken by Tina as the joke it was meant to be.
She in turn made a dismissive gesture.
‘’Bah, we are fairly blasé about such things on this ship, sir: we have a very nice sex club with strippers both female and male, plus an escort service, on our Promenade Deck.’’
While the mention of ‘male strippers’ made Laura Jennings raise an eyebrow, the two bodyguards and the runabout pilot smiled widely at the words ‘sex club’, something that didn’t escape the attention of either Tina or Charles Watts. The latter’s smile widened.
‘’Well, my pilot could take a single bedroom suite by himself, I suppose: he will then be more free on how to use his spare time aboard your ship. Me, my aide and my two bodyguards will take one of your four-bedroom suite, if you don’t mind.’’
‘’One four-bedroom suite and a single suite it is then, sir.’’
Leading the group, Tina crossed in calm, moderate steps the 230 meters of temperate lowland forest ecosystem while following an old-fashioned pathway made of rough stone pavements. Watts used that walk to look around him with contentment at the variety of maples, firs, pines, oaks, helms and spruce trees dispersed around the ecosystem’s vast grounds, with hundreds of bushes, including berry bushes, covering the spaces between the trees. A tiny form running across the pathway ahead of them then made him exclaim in surprise.
‘’Hey, what’s that?’’
Tina raised a hand to stop the governor’s bodyguards, who were reaching for their pistols.
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‘’Do not worry, gentlemen: this was only a squirrel.’’
‘’A squirrel, here on a ship?’’ Marveled Laura Jennings, who was watching the tiny rodent as it climbed a nearby tree.
‘’Yes! When I went to talk with an expert on forest ecosystems, in order to plan the landscaping of this deck, I was told that some minor animal fauna could be incorporated as well, which would also help the cross-pollination of some plants and flowers on the grounds. So, I selected a limited variety of small animals and birds with the help of that expert, to populate those ecosystems, but made sure not to import insects or other pests. With the conifer cones and berry bushes around, my squirrels will have plenty to eat. As you can see, there are a few park benches installed along the trail, so you will be able to enjoy long promenades around our forests.’’
‘’And I will certainly use them during our trip: I could use some true relaxation time these days.’’
Tina gave him a quick look, guessing what he meant by that, but didn’t ask a question then. She spoke again when they exited the forest grounds and passed through a large arched tunnel twenty meters long and closed at both ends by airtight armored doors, emerging in a high-ceiling, ten meter-wide promenade that ran in a closed loop along the outer periphery of the Bow Gravity Sail Deck. Watts was then treated to another surprise as he contemplated with wide eyes the huge aquariums covering the inner side walls of the promenade. The aquariums, whose tops reached the ceiling sixteen meters above Watts, were populated by what looked like thousands of fish of various species swimming lazily along the closed-loop aquariums. Fruit trees and bushes were planted at intervals along the outer side of the promenade, which was lined with large, thick armorglass bays showing the nearby Ares space terminal and the surface of Mars below. Tina smiled with pride at his amazement.
‘’As you can see, sir, I did my best to make my ship as agreeable to live on as possible.’’
‘’And you certainly did a fine job of it, Captain. All this must have cost you a true fortune, no?’’
‘’It has indeed, sir.’’ Answered Tina in a sober tone. ‘’This was made mostly for the benefit of my crew, though, and not to accommodate luxury class passengers. This ship is actually our home in space, apart from being our bread winner. This, in my mind, should be the ultimate goal of all Spacers: to recreate and nurture in space all the 114
natural beauty of Earth that was so stupidly destroyed by Mankind during past centuries through greed and short-sightedness.’’
Watts, along with Laura Jennings and the bodyguards, nodded at those words.
‘’I see that you believe in the same dream as me, Captain Forster. Unfortunately, it seems that the Terran Federal Council does not share that dream.’’
‘’What do you mean, sir?’’
‘’That the main reason for my secret trip to Jupiter to speak with Governor Robeson is the fact that the Federal Council and Grand Administrator Li just cut all federal funding for the Mars Terramorphing Project…for good.’’
Both Tina and Natalia were dumbstruck by that revelation, with Tina exploding in indignation.
‘’But, the MTP is the future of Mars!’’
‘’Yes, it was, Captain. Unfortunately, it seems that it will now have to be shelved, unless I find a way to fund it or to convince the Federal Council to change its mind about it. Somehow, I believe that the second possibility is rather remote right now.’’
Tina took a moment to regain her composure and chase the anger that had flared in her, walking in the meantime down the promenade. She stopped after fifty meters in front of a bank of elevators leading up to the apartment complex, boarding a cabin with her group and going up to the level of the upper promenade, similar in appearance and volume to the lower promenade, but with its inner side lined by three levels of apartments rather than with aquariums. Leading her group out of the elevator, she walked along the façade, soon climbing a small staircase leading to a porch sheltering the entrances of two adjacent apartments. She pointed to the frame of a solid steel sliding panel on the edge of the porch.
‘’Each of the two exits for every apartment is protected by airtight emergency airlocks that will automatically close in case of a local decompression or fire. This way, the occupants will have the time to don their spacesuits in safety inside their apartments before evacuating if needed. I gather that you have all brought your spacesuits, sir?’’
Watts nodded and pointed the distinctive transport cases of spacesuits among the luggage piled on Natalia’s platform.
‘’We sure did, like good little Spacers.’’
‘’Excellent! Now, let’s register you as the occupants of these two apartments.’’
Tina approached a security pad near the door of one of the two apartments opening on the porch, touching