CHAPTER 5 – TAKING A HUGE RISK
13:22 (Vancouver Time)
Friday, December 17, 2320
Astroport of Vancouver, Canada
North American Union
Earth, Solar System
Accompanied by Rose Tillman, the tall brunette in her early forties who was the chief engineer aboard the KOSTROMA, and by four other engineers and technicians from her ship, Tina Forster stopped briefly to look up at the name and logo displayed above the big sliding doors of the hangar she was about to walk into.
‘’Hum, ‘Vancouver Used Ships and Boats’. What do you know about this enterprise, Rose?’’
‘’Not much, Frankly. I heard or read its name a couple of times, but I don’t remember seeing any negative comments about it.’’
‘’Well, that’s at least one good point about it. Let’s go in and kick a few tires.’’
Her engineers and technicians smiled in amusement at her allusion about old used car dealers and followed her through a pedestrian door of the hangar. They then found themselves inside a medium-sized business office where a young receptionist smiled to them.
‘’Welcome to ‘Vancouver Used Ships and Boats’! What may we do for you, ladies and gentlemen?’’
‘’I am looking for a small, used but reliable space craft I could use for interplanetary trips. These five people are engineers and technicians working for me who will be inspecting any craft that I would be interested in buying, miss. Your online catalog was showing in particular a small private yacht that was said to be in very good state.’’
‘’Ah yes: the ‘Mayflower’. If you will wait a bit here, I will call in our main salesman, Mister Norton.’’
‘’No problem, miss.’’
Tina then walked slowly to a large window that gave an internal view of the hangar proper, where seven small shuttles and boats were parked.
‘’Hum, I never realized before that there was such a thriving marked for used spacecraft.’’
‘’It is actually quite understandable, in view of the high prices of new craft and boats, Tina.’’ replied Rose Tillman before pointing at a particular craft inside the hangar. ‘’There is the Mayflower! It does look in good shape…from afar.’’
Tina looked for a long moment at the shiny blue and white space yacht, detailing it with interest. It was maybe 25-meter-long and had the shape of a fat triangle with rounded edges. A portly man in his fifties and with a balding head then came to her, presenting his right hand for a shake.
‘’Good afternoon, miss! I am Frank Norton, head salesman at ‘Vancouver Used Ships and Boats’. So, you are interested in buying a small, dependable interplanetary craft, miss…’’
‘’Tina Forster! I am indeed. Your ‘Mayflower’ looks like an interesting candidate for me. What can you tell me about it before we go inspect it?’’
‘’Well, it is a Kitimat-Class private yacht, designed and built here in British-Columbia some 29 years ago. It was then considered the top of the line in private yachts and was noted for its ease of piloting, performant but also reliable engine and comfortable accommodations. A single person can pilot and navigate it, as it has a very capable navigation and flight control computer. Essentially, someone could board it, punch in the destination in the navigation computer and then sit down and relax while the boat pilots itself.’’
‘’Sounds like a nice little craft indeed, Mister Norton. If it was so good, then why did its previous owner sell it to you?’’
‘’For the simple reason that the previous owner, a rich industrialist, just bought a new, more modern top of the line yacht. We inspected it from end to end on acquiring it and I can vouch that the ‘Mayflower’ is still in excellent shape, Miss Forster.’’
‘’Very well! Can I go inspect it with my engineers?’’
‘’Of course, miss! This way, please!’’
Entering the hangar proper via a door linking it with the sales office, Norton led Tina and her group to the blue and white yacht and used a remote-control unit to open one of the two side access doors.
‘’Here you are, Miss Forster. You may look around and inside it to your content. If you have any questions, I will be happy to answer them to the best of my technical knowledge.’’
‘’Thank you! Let’s go in, Rose.’’
Followed by the anxious salesman, who stood to get a sizeable commission from this possible sale, Tina, Rose and one more engineer went inside, while the three other persons of their team started inspecting the exterior of the yacht. They found an interior that indeed looked nearly pristine despite its age. The crew lounge, situated just behind the cockpit and to which connected a number of bedrooms and facilities, actually looked quite luxurious, with posh sofas and varnished wood paneling around it. The cockpit was next to be visited, drawing a satisfied nod from Tina, who was an experienced and highly competent space pilot and navigator.
‘’Not bad at all, Mister Norton. It seems that your description was quite correct.’’
‘’Thank you, Miss Forster. Would you like to go check the engine room now?’’
‘’Definitely! Please show me the way.’’
Going up one level from the lounge and then aft, the small group soon entered a fairly large engine room that must have been filling over a third of the yacht’s internal volume.
‘’Here you are, miss. This yacht is equipped with a Shomberg Mark II thermonuclear drive, supplemented by gravity sail plates. This yacht has more than enough range and speed to make a return trip between Earth and Saturn in 35 days and still have a comfortable reserve of cryogenic deuterium-tritium fuel.’’
‘’Impressive! Do you mind if my engineers take some time to look around this engine room?’’
‘’Not at all, miss! Maybe we could discuss the price together in the meantime?’’
‘’A good idea, Mister Norton. Let’s go down to the lounge for that.’’
Going back to the lounge with the salesman, Tina sat in one of the comfortable sofas furnishing it and looked at Frank Norton.
‘’Up to now, this used yacht looks very promising to me, Mister Norton. What price are you asking for it?’’
‘’We are offering it for a very reasonable 5.4 million credits, miss, plus of course the sales tax and registration fees.’’
Tina thought that price over for a moment as Norton, hiding his anxiety, looked on. She finally smiled to the salesman and spoke up.
‘’That sounds like a fair price, in view of what I saw of this yacht. I will however wait until my engineers will have reported back to me after their inspection before taking a final decision.’’
‘’Fair enough, miss.’’
They then chatted about a few anodyne subjects for about fifteen minutes before Rose Tillman came to the lounge with her engineers and technicians and went to Tina, whispering into her ear.
‘’Everything seems well maintained and in good order, with no vices found. You can buy it without worries about it, Tina.’’
‘’Excellent!’’ replied Tina before looking back at the salesman. ‘’I will take this yacht as is, Mister Norton.’’
The salesman grinned in contentment and took out of one jacket pocket an electronic notepad.
‘’You won’t regret it, miss. What kind of payment plan would you prefer? A five, ten- or twenty-year plan?’’
‘’Make it a one-shot payment, Mister Norton. Here is my debit card.’’
Norton took the small card handed to him by Tina and looked with bemusement at it: it was a black and gold debit card of the type used by persons with fortunes of at least fifty million credits. His mind then fully clicked in on her name and he looked back at Tina with a bit of shock.
‘’Uh, are you Fleet Captain Forster, the owner of the mega cargo ship KOSTROMA?’’
‘’I am! As you can see, I can easily pay for this yacht. Could we go back to your sales office, in order to finalize this deal?’’
‘’Of course, Captain Forster!’’ said the overjoyed salesman while getting up from his sofa.
Signing the sales contract and registering it took only some twenty minutes, after which Tina went back to her new yacht and took place in the cockpit, along with Rose Tillman. The main drive fired up without any hesitation or problem and the yacht soon emerged from the hangar and under the gray Winter sky of Vancouver. Watching her go, Norton then realized that she had come into a shuttle equipped with an interstellar drive, a type of ship that was still quite rare around, and which was now taking off to follow the yacht. The salesman scratched his head then, as he wondered why such a woman would want to buy an old, outdated yacht. Still, that sale represented a 35,000 credits sales commission for him, so he didn’t waste much time wondering about Tina’s motives and walked back inside the hangar.
17:52 (Universal Time)
Captain’s suite, Level 24, Core Section
A.M.S. KOSTROMA, in low Earth orbit
When she entered her Captain’s suite, Tina found her husband, Michel Koniev, busy feeding supper to their fifteen-month-old son Misha, who was sitting in a high chair. Tina had expected Michel to greet her with his customary evening kiss but, this time, got only a resentful look from him. That made her stop cold at the entrance to their dining room.
‘’What? Why do you look at me this way, Michel?’’
‘’Because I am mad at you taking again insane risks without even discussing with me. Do you realize how low your chances of coming back from your planned diplomatic mission to Ross 128b are? Did you think about the impact of your possible loss on our son Misha…or on me?’’
‘’But, that mission HAS to be attempted, for the sake of keeping peace between us and the Drazt.’’
‘’Really? What is wrong about ignoring the Drazt during the next few years, while we build up our war fleet to defend the Solar System? It may take decades before the Drazt could develop a star drive of their own, decades during which we will have ample time to build dozens of new warships incorporating the Drazt technologies we copied from them. So, why risk to see our Misha lose her mother just to conduct a mission that is both needless and near-suicidal?’’
Tina was shaken by Michel’s resentful tone and by the fact that he spoke like this simply out of love and care for her. Still, she believed strongly that what she was planning of doing was both necessary and vital for the future of Humanity.
‘’How could you say that my mission will be a needless one? What assures you that the Drazt, now that they know that a star drive can be built, will not actually break its secret and produce a working system in mere years? Are you ready to run the risks of such an outcome happening quickly? You know too well, like me, that if the Drazt managed to send a combat fleet to the Solar System within a year or two, that we would in all probability be crushed and overwhelmed. We simply don’t have yet enough ships capable of resisting the Drazt weapons. Hell, we in fact have only a total of two ships armed with disintegrator cannons and force shield generators: us and the cruiser CENTURION!’’
Michel was about to fire back at her when little Misha, sensing the anger in his parents’ voices, started crying in his chair. That prompted Tina into nearly running to his high chair and to lift him up and out of it before holding him and caressing gently his back.
‘’I am sorry, Misha. I didn’t want to upset you like this.’’
She then looked up at Michel and spoke while keeping her tone down.
‘’Please wait until Misha is sleeping before continuing this discussion. You really believe that I didn’t think about the possible impact of my mission on you and Misha? I am not suicidal and I love you both immensely. It is just that some things have to be done…at any cost, for the greater good of all.’’
Calming down somewhat, Michel lowered his head for a moment.
‘’Very well, Tina. But you really should discuss such things with me before you make your mind about doing something dangerous.’’
‘’I will, I promise. Now, let me take over Misha’s supper: I really missed him today.’’
On Callisto Prime, in the Jupiter System, Gerald Holmes-Robeson was checking on his slowly simmering dish of Duck à L’orange when his wife Janet came back from work, prompting out his customary welcome.
‘’HELLO, DEAR! HOW WAS YOUR DAY?’’
‘’FAIR, BUT I NEED TO ASK YOU SOMETHING.’’
Gerald waited until Janet entered their kitchen before speaking again.
‘’Okay, what did you want to ask me, honey?’’
‘’Would you be ready to volunteer to go back as my personal observer to the Ross 128 System, as part of an important diplomatic mission?’’
That shocked Gerald into silence for a few seconds before he could reply to Janet.
‘’Gee! Was my last Veal Marsala dish that bad?’’
‘’No! Actually, I loved it. If this could help convince you to go, you would stay aboard the KOSTROMA all the time and would only observe and monitor the events while Tina Forster takes on the truly dangerous part of the mission. Ibi, the advisor of the Hoshi ambassador, will also be on that trip, along with Administrator Sheraz.’’
‘’Hum, some nice, distinguished company to die with.’’ said Gerald in a facetious tone, hiding his sudden apprehension. ‘’Alright, I will go. Now, I want you to get ready to eat the best Duck à L’orange you will ever taste. Go change while I check on the duck.’’