Delphi League (Delphi in Space Book 10) Page 5

  “If we could find one that was compatible.”

  “We have a few possibilities. We have Solar Explorer probes that are mapping the various inhabitable planets in this arm of the galaxy. Several of them are high-gravity worlds. That is, assuming your definition of habitable is similar to ours.”

  “So does that mean you are already planning to colonize those planets?”

  “No, we put them on our maybe list. Their gravity is about fifty percent higher than our standard gravity, so we wouldn’t be very comfortable there.”

  “Is this your standard gravity?” Bear asked, indicating the gravity that they were experiencing on Gemini Station. “It is much lighter than ours.”

  “Yes,” Blake said.

  “That explains why you’re so tall,” Rhino said.

  “Probably. Now you said you wanted to continue your colony mission.”

  “Yes, but how could we?”

  “We might be able to provide the necessary aid,” Blake said.

  “We would prefer to do that if it is possible. It has been at least one hundred years since we left our homeworld. It would be awkward to go back, even for those of us that have been in stasis. Things would be too different, our skills obsolete. But on a colony world, that would not matter.”

  “Based on your statement, we would predict that your homeworld is fifteen to twenty light-years from where you were attacked,” Catie said.

  “Approximately. You have probably already mapped our homeworld,” Rhino said, shaking his head. “We have to trust you because you’re obviously far more capable than we are.”

  “Not as much as you might think,” Blake said. “We have a close relationship with one of the other alien species that were on the ship with you. The Paraxeans.”

  “If they are so advanced, then how were they captured?!” Wolf demanded.

  “They were ambushed. They had two military vessels with them, but the Fazullans had a well-planned attack. It occurred over seventy years ago; before we met each other.”

  “The Paraxean slaves told us they believed the Fazullans had only captured a part of their colony mission, they always wondered what happened to the others,” Wolf said.

  “They were able to save their colony ship. They tried to continue their mission, but their colony ship had suffered too much damage and they were diverted to Earth, our home planet. We’ve helped them start a colony, but most of them are still in stasis waiting for their colony world to build enough infrastructure to accommodate the rest of them.”

  “That must be a major project; we’re happy to hear that you’re willing to invest so much to help them.”

  “How many people were on your ship?” Catie asked.

  “Twenty-six thousand,” Rhino said.

  “Oh my,” Catie said. “There are only about four thousand of you on the Fazullan ship.”

  “We know. The rest of our people are slaves on the Fazullan home planet,” Wolf said.

  “We noticed that your species was the only one that included females on the ship, can you explain that?”

  “It is not important,” Wolf said. “I think we need to focus on moving forward.”

  ◆ ◆ ◆

  After another hour of questions, Major Prescott escorted the Aperanjens out. Catie immediately brought up a star map of the Fazullan system while Blake’s eyes turned to his HUD.

  “Hey, you two. What are you thinking?” Liz said as she stood there with her hands on her hips looking between Blake and Catie. “Come on, share!”

  “Marc, have you been following along?” Blake asked.

  “Yes. You guys seemed to have it covered so I just watched,” Marc answered.

  “I think we have an opportunity to add another colony to our collection. That would give us more bargaining power when we meet the other races out here.”

  “What about the Onisiwoens?!” Liz demanded. “Their world could be under attack from the Fazullans right now!”

  “The probe didn’t detect any signs of a war when it flew by,” Catie said.

  “But who knows what defenses they really have. Charlie was obviously trying to make them sound tougher than they probably are.”

  “We could redirect an explorer back to their system,” Catie suggested. “It will take a few weeks.”

  “I agree,” Marc said. “Get one to Onisiwo as fast as you can. Blake, how should we deal with getting intel on the Fazullans?”

  “Catie, is their wormhole still open over by Artemis?” Blake asked.

  “No, the probe we sent didn’t detect a wormhole.”

  “When do you think it will open again?”

  “I’m not sure. Our simulations indicate the wormhole will cycle among three different systems over a thirteen- or fourteen-month period.”

  “Three systems?” Liz said, “My count has them at four. Onisiwo, Aperanje, here by Artemis, and where they attacked the Paraxeans.”

  “I know. I was trying to figure that out when you started asking questions,” Catie said. “My guess is that the whole wormhole network shifted sometime in the last seventy years. We’ll have to reevaluate the math to figure out what systems it was cycling through back then.”

  “Did your simulation tell you that would happen?” Blake asked.

  “Dr. McDowell is developing a more complete model. Our current model doesn’t predict a fourth system where the Aperanjens were attacked, so something changed since then.”

  “Ahem,” Marc coughed. “Why don’t we send a probe to the Onisiwo system now and give everyone time to figure out our next move. We’ll review it at the board meeting on Monday.”

  “Okay.”

  Chapter 4

  Board Meeting – August 1st

  “I call this meeting to order,” Marc said. “Any urgent issues to deal with?”

  “I don’t know if you call it urgent, but I think you need to talk to Prime Minister Nazeri about the quantum relays,” Kal said.

  “Why?”

  “Because at her last cabinet meeting she mentioned that she’d just had a chat with you.”

  “Oh, I guess that would raise some questions if someone had been paying attention.”

  “Good thing the only scientist there was Nikola.”

  “I’ll have a chat with her,” Marc said. “While you’re up, anything else?”

  “One of my Marines has a bit of an issue,” Kal said.

  “Oh, what would that be?”

  “He wants to buy his condo.”

  “Hmm, we haven’t been allowing anyone to buy property in Delphi City.”

  “And according to him, or more likely his mama, that’s a problem. How are people supposed to build wealth if they cannot buy real estate? That’s the single greatest source of family wealth.”

  “He would do better to invest his money in the stock market,” Marc said. “But if he wants to buy the condo, I don’t know. Fred, what do you think?”

  “It’s a big psychological thing, especially for people of color. I don’t see why we don’t let people buy them; you still have the community CC&Rs to enforce neighborly behavior.”

  “How would we set the value?” Marc asked.

  “Same way you came up with the rent. Take that and just translate to value.”

  “And home loans?”

  “We have the credit union.”

  “Okay, put Zane on it,” Marc said.

  “I think that members of the security forces should be able to get a 100% loan,” Blake said.

  “Why not? They’re probably our most stable residents. Fred, are you going to handle it, or do you want me to appoint someone else?”

  “I’ll give it to our real-estate person. She’s been dealing with all the condo assignments and rent collections. This is just an extension of that, it’ll be like a promotion. She deserves one, she’s doing a great job.”

  “We’ll need to make sure everyone pays association dues to cover maintenance,” Catie said.

  “Oh, and what would you know about
maintenance in condo buildings?” Blake asked, alluding to the supposed incident where Catie got even with her friend, Sophia, by using the maintenance system to make her shower spray green food coloring on her.

  “I learned about it in a class,” Catie said, then stuck her tongue out at Blake.

  “Sure, sure, we all believe you.”

  “Moving on!” Marc interrupted the spat. “Catie, what’s the status of the new frigates?”

  “I’ve gone over the design with Uncle Blake, Captain Clark, and Ajda. Everyone agrees that taking the Scout design and giving it three flight bays instead of one and shrinking the cargo bay is the best choice. It should always be close to a carrier or a planet, so it doesn’t need to handle much cargo. We also had to add a mechanical system to manage environmental; the hydroponics system takes up too much space, and we needed that space for capacitors.”

  “Are you adding another layer to the hull?” Marc asked.

  “Yes, Uncle Blake wants it to be able to take a plasma cannon blast for thirty seconds, so we added a second hull layer with superconductors.”

  “Good, how long before we have one built?”

  “Two months for the first one,” Catie said.

  “That long?”

  “Hey, we have to build out the cabins and everything; do you want us to have Captain Payne bring some of yours back?”

  “No, we’ll need them to get the new colonists settled. But what’s up with that? I thought he was in command of the Roebuck.”

  “We rotated the crews,” Blake explained. “They’d been out for over a year. As soon as they hit the beach, Liz was poaching them.”

  “Hmm, . . . Should we do something about that?”

  “You’re putting me on the spot,” Blake said tugging at his collar and looking uncomfortable.

  “Well?”

  “No, it’s good for morale. Our people like knowing they have options for civilian jobs. It keeps them on their toes. They like to be asked even if they don’t take the job; like a badge of honor.”

  “Hah!” Catie said.

  “Sorry about that,” Marc laughed. “I guess we can stand the two-month wait for the frigate. What’s the status of getting a probe to the Onisiwo system?”

  “It’s on its way. It’ll be another four weeks before it gets there.”

  “That long?”

  “Space is a big place.”

  “How are we doing with new colonists?” Marc asked.

  “We’re set up to handle about twenty thousand right now,” Blake said.

  “Isn’t that using up a lot of space on Delphi Station?”

  “No, we’re keeping them down here in the city.”

  “Where?”

  “Some smart ex-Marine mentioned how they used to set up a forward base. So as part of their training, we bring them in, put them on a bare quad, and have them build a condo building. We house them in tents while the building goes up. Since we build the condo units separately and insert them in the frame, it only takes them six weeks to get the building up.”

  “What are you going to do with the next group?”

  “Same thing. After twelve weeks, we’ll ship the first group to you and release their condo to the real estate group. This will have us adding an extra condo building every six weeks, and it’s great training for the colonists.”

  “How do the construction guys feel about it?”

  “We pay them more to deal with the rubes, so they’re okay. There’s still lots of work, so nobody is losing out.”

  “Send us the details on how you’re managing it. We’ll try to do something similar on this side,” Marc said. “Now let’s talk about our new friends.”

  “Yes, what are we going to do with them?” Catie asked.

  “We’ll leave the Paraxeans in stasis. We’ll go ahead and send the ones we’ve awakened to Delphi Station; they can stay with the Paraxean colonists there until we can send them to Mangkatar. It’s the Aperanjens that we need to decide how to handle.”

  “Well, Gemini is too small for all of them,” Liz said.

  “I’m glad you noticed that. I’m thinking about Delphi Station,” Marc said. “If we spin Section Two faster so we have 1.4 Gs in ring six, then ring two would be about 1G.”

  “We already have people moving into ring six,” Liz said.

  “I know, but not many, right?”

  “Right.”

  “So, let’s move them. Then we can bring the Aperanjens out of stasis and get them ready to start a colony. They’ll need a lot more help than the Paraxeans since they don’t have anything from their original colony mission.”

  “You’re going to wake them all up?!” Blake asked.

  “Why not. There are only four thousand. They need to coordinate with each other and start training. There are bound to be skill gaps, and who knows how they’ll react to our tools and systems,” Marc said.

  “Sounds like fun,” Catie said.

  “I’m glad you think so. I want you and Liz to coordinate it.”

  Liz kicked Catie under the table.

  “He was going to make us do it anyway,” Catie hissed.

  “I was, but I feel much better about it now that you volunteered.” Marc gave them a grin.

  “Sam, when is the baby due?” Catie asked.

  “Five weeks.”

  “And you’re still going to meetings?” Liz asked.

  “Women are tougher than men.”

  Marc sighed, “I think we’re done here.”

  ◆ ◆ ◆

  “Hey, Catie. I was reading the shareholder report Fred handed out and I couldn’t help but notice he’s now a major shareholder,” Liz said.

  “Yeah, he owns 3 percent,” Catie said.

  “Who sold him the shares?”

  “I did.”

  “After his platinum metal scheme?”

  “Actually, later than that. When Daddy made him president, we talked. It made sense that the president should be a major shareholder. And I wanted to replenish my cash after we started StarMerchants, so I sold him 2½ percent. Daddy would have, but he doesn’t want to give up control.”

  “Why, among the three of you he would still have control.”

  “We would have control. Daddy likes to be able to make a call without having to get a vote.”

  “And they say he’s not a tyrant.”

  “Sometimes he is, but he’s usually nice about it.”

  Chapter 5

  Town Hall Meeting

  “Whose idea was this?” Chief Nawal asked as she and Prime Minister Nazeri watched the hall fill.

  “A town hall meeting is a traditional way to present the state of the city.”

  “But Delphi is a nation.”

  “Composed of one city and one space station,” the prime minister said. “What’s the problem? Are you getting nervous?”

  “Yes, it’s starting to look like a press conference with five hundred reporters.”

  The prime minister smiled. “I’m sure the questions will be entertaining. I just saw Sophia Michaels sit down in the back.”

  ◆ ◆ ◆

  “Now that we’ve assembled, I’d like to introduce our Prime Minister, Fatiha Nazeri,” James Buckman, the president of the Delphi Senate announced.

  “Good afternoon,” Prime Minister Nazeri said to open her speech. “Thank you for joining us for our first State of the Nation address. We selected today because it marks the third year of the founding of Delphi City. Our President, His Excellency Marc, has decreed that henceforth, the eighth of August will be known as Founders’ Day.

  “His Excellency Marc is unable to attend today’s celebration and State of the Nation speech since as most of you know, he elected to lead Earth’s first colony mission to Artemis. There he and his First Lady, Samantha, are working to ensure that Delphi and Earth achieve their rightful place as a leader among the spacefaring civilizations in our galaxy.

  “Prince Blake and Princess Catherine are also engaged in discussion with envoy
s from other spacefaring civilizations to establish relationships between them and Delphi. They hope that before the end of the year they will be able to join us and announce treaties between these civilizations and Earth.

  “Now to the state of our nation. I am happy to report that Delphi Nation is healthy and growing. Last month we surpassed a population of one hundred fifty thousand. I and many of our early immigrants came to Delphi City as refugees. I’m happy to say that although we continue to take in refugees, the majority of our growth is coming from normal immigration. People are coming to Delphi because it is the land of freedom and opportunity. We are one of the most diverse and richest nations on Earth. And that richness is due to the innovation of our citizens. Today, over twenty percent of our GDP is generated by new businesses formed within the last year. And let me assure you that that is a major accomplishment for a small nation that is home to the richest corporation in the world. MacKenzie Discoveries continues to be our largest employer, but thirty-five percent of our jobs are now in businesses that are outside of the MacKenzie Discoveries umbrella.

  “The Nation is running a surplus of fifty million on a three hundred-million-dollar budget. We have a reserve of over one billion dollars. And as of this year, we have introduced a new currency called the Aurora. Your handouts will provide all the numbers for the budget in New Zealand Dollars, U.S. Dollars, and Auroras.

  “The University of Delphi is thriving, attracting students and professors from other countries. When the academic year opens at the end of this month, each academic chair at Delphi University will be held by a resident of Delphi City, and sixty percent of the professors will also be residents of Delphi City.

  “And our military academy has begun its second year. It will continue to produce the officers we need to lead our nation’s armed forces both here at home as well as in the stars. These future leaders will ensure the safety and prosperity of Earth and all of her colonies.”

  ◆ ◆ ◆

  “And in summary, I wish to invite everyone to celebrate our nation’s record of safety, diversity, prosperity, and opportunity. I will now take questions.”

  Reporter: “Why did the budget jump so much this year?”

  “This year, the government was responsible for the expense of all health care. Last year, MacKenzie Discoveries covered their employees, which as I said earlier comprise most of the workforce here in Delphi.”