"The purpose of our meeting today is to assist the Terrans in their evacuation of the Nekh. I will spare you the more specific details, but I have been informed that the period of time with which we have to work is five years, a window which is closing as we speak. Kilm, you have been selected as the individual that will oversee this operation in the field owing to both your relative level of familiarity with the Terrans, as well as your skill as a logistical organizer. Do you accept this admiralship appointment?"

Kilm stood up from his seat before dropping to a knee. "Of course, My Lady."

"Very well. Marshall, I assume you assent to his falling under my direct control?"

"I do not trust myself to perform that duty to the standard you require."

"That is not the reason I was looking for, but I will accept it nonetheless." The Arboreal Maiden removed her hand from the staff, leaving it to stand upright on it's own while she pulled her tablet from her robe. "Arc, would you please provide a render of the Trawler to both the Librarian and the Scholar's tablets?"

"Are you referring to the series of scale images against other common objects?"

"That is correct."

"Give me a moment, the connection is not the best in your current location."

"Thank you Arc." She had prepared something of a presentation to get all relevant subordinates used to the sort of scale the Terrans planned on operating at. "Scholar, Librarian, I trust you brought your tablets to today's gathering?"

"Of course." "It never leaves my side!"

"Then I will have to ask you to keep them on hand. There are a series of images that I feel it is necessary for those in attendance to see. Scholar, Captain, I am certain you are at least moderately familiar with their shipbuilding practices from your experience with the Noah. This will be your first time seeing what they can actually do with regards to scale."

"My apologies, My Lady, but I fail to understand your meaning." The Captain finally spoke, given permission by way of response.

"I am certain you have heard them speak of their ships, correct? Did they ever mention how small the Noah was in comparison?"

"I recall them speaking on the matter, but I was never told anything specific."

"Ha!" The Arboreal Maiden wanted to laugh more, she thought the Terrans to be overly secretive about that sort of thing, but she couldn't let herself do that in the presence of so many other people. "I think you might have been told more than you realized, you only lack the understanding of their language and culture to put the pieces together."

ping

"Oh? Well, I suppose it is always easier to show you. Scholar, Librarian, the box-like object on your screen is the transport ship they plan to build in order to transport the Nekh to their new home. The Noah is provided as comparison, with a person provided in comparison to it."

The Arboreal Maiden showed her tablet to both (now Admiral) Kilm and Rize before bringing it to the Marshall to see, while the Librarian shared hers with the Merchant and Navigator.

"I . . . struggle to believe they can make something like this." The Merchant was the first to voice his concerns. "They don't even have the people to build it, much less a method to make sure something that large doesn't fall apart."

"We don't have those methods, Merchant, they do." The Arboreal Maiden returned to her post by the staff, leaving her tablet with the Marshall. "In fact, they plan to build this ship at the lowest level of quality they dare to maximize the number of lives saved. They would actually prefer bigger and more robust ships."

"Bigger than this?"

"Indeed." Perhaps a solid number would better illustrate her point. "Arc, if your material access was unlimited, how much time would you require to produce one of these Trawlers?"

"Assuming we only have a single production line running, it will take an estimated 25 days to complete a Trawler class cargo ship."

"25 days is all the time they would need to construct one of these ships if they had the resources on hand at the start of production." The Arboreal Maiden thought for a second before adding another little detail. "I suspect the vast majority of this time will be taken in heating the metal and waiting for it to cool."

"Metal?" The Merchant raised an eyebrow.

"My Lady, are you insinuating that is to be a metal ship?" Kilm's eyes opened in shock.

"Steel, if you would like to be more specific."

"Sword's metal? I dare not believe it!" The Marshall was on the verge of yelling. "Besides! If they were to make a boat out of sword's metal, how would they make it float?"

"Float? Oh my dear children there will be no water docking of these ships." The Arboreal Maiden was feeling conflicted about her subordinates' behavior. "These will sit upon the land. They have doors on the back for three and a half thousand souls to embark. And I would strongly advise against raising your voice like that. In this case it is not that my word is law, but the truth."

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"But, My Lady, sword's metal?" The Merchant understood the material costs of a single sword better the Marshall. Creating one kilogram of the metal and shaping it into a relatively small and simple weapon was beyond difficult, and they wanted to make a ship out of it? One larger than any other, at that? "Are we certain they are not bluffing?"

"In their eyes, the quantity of steel they can refine at the moment only reaches the level of 'pitiful'. They built cities out of it, of a higher quality than the sword's metal at that. Do not underestimate their ability to work with metal."

"Still, one hundred years worth of it?"

"To them it is only a few weeks of production, production limited by resources that don't replenish." Her tone suddenly dropped to become more threatening. "I will accept no further resistance on the subject matter, I have seen what they can do with my own two eyes."

""Yes, My Lady.""

". . . let us continue. Our very first course of action is, was, to provide the Terrans with the information needed to navigate the stars. Navigator?"

"I am learning from the Scholar. I must admit that the language is rather interesting, if a bit difficult."

"You do not need to come to a fluent level, only to the point where you can interact with Arc and understand some basic instructions with the interface."

"I know that much, but I have concerns as to if this 'Arc' creature will be able to navigate the stars. I do not know its aptitude." The Navigator rubbed his chin as he pulled out a few maps from his satchel, the table now clear of food and drink.

"I dare not say that it will become a better pathfinder than you, however it will undoubtedly prove faster in the calculation of valid routes. Do not misunderstand me when I say that the ability of a human to process information pales in comparison to what Arc is capable of, calculation is one of the core reasons for his existence."

"I thank you for the praise." A semi-muffled voice from one covered speaker, a clear voice from the other two tablets.

"Still, I don't see a reason why you don't just let me handle the pathfinding this time."

"They will need to be able to handle this on their own in a relatively short period of time, and I find it highly unlikely they will be able to find the number of people needed to fill the inevitable gaps in their fleet. Arc will be in charge of this." The Arboreal Maiden explained the situation to her acquaintance while trying not to reveal just how much of a boon she was providing them. "Besides, their Split-Space Drivers are not going to conform to the traditional limitations. I've yet to tell them, but they have a longer range than most others. The route you have provided us will only be sufficient for the older ships."

"They can negate the effects of bleed and draw on the bubble?" The Navigator raised a brow. "I thought that was something that only existed in the realm of dreams."

"Negate is going a bit far, mitigate is a better term. The precision and consistency of their production methods combined with their access to more conductive and durable materials means that the drives are far less likely to break under stress, the lanes they have access to will increase in length as a result."

"Ah, that would be why I am here." He began to adjust a few black fibers between dots on the map. "What is the expected ratio of range to flow?"

"For the purposes of safety, ten times the current standard, though I believe they are capable of designing something with a ratio in the hundreds of times the current average. They simply do not have the materials or time on hand for that sort of endeavor."

Multiple pairs of eyes widened in response to this, Rize and Kilm being the only ones unable to understand the gravity of this development.

"That's . . . twice the range?" The Librarian did some quick math in her head.

"Whatever it means to you lot is irrelevant, you are not to be concerned with it. The only exception to that is, perhaps, Admiral Kilm."

"I apologize for my intrusion, but why is that?" Kilm interjected, trying to figure out what objectives he had beyond 'save the Nekh'.

The Arboreal Maiden took a deep breath. "In truth, aside from purchasing merchant and utility vessels from them, I also plan to modernize our navy through arms purchases from them. The sooner we get a contingent of individuals experienced in operating those systems, the better."

"Arms purchases? Could we not build those ships ourselves?" The Merchant was thinking about the coffers.

"Perhaps in three to four hundred years we might be able to make something that vaguely resembles what Donovan can design at the moment, but we might never reach the same level. It will be cheaper for us to purchase them from a performance perspective."

"I am of the same mind in this regard. They once mentioned something they called 'gunpowder' and became obstinate about keeping it a secret once they learned that we had no such thing." The Captain, one of only two in the room with actual combat experience, made his mind known on the subject. "It is, supposedly, something which 'is an instrument of death that only brings evil if placed in the wrong hands' and 'has the magical ability to create corpses'. If that truly is the case, then I would understand the need for secrecy, but do we really want to have access to it?"

"Is that how they described it to you?" The Arboreal Maiden rubbed her thumb on her index finger. "No, I suppose that was sufficient for your understanding of English at the time. Regardless, I have a feeling that gunpowder is going to become very common over the course of the next century or two, be that to the benefit or detriment of the adoptees. You should stand aside on that matter."

"I understand."

"Thank you, now, where were we?"

"I believe we had finished discussing the range of their Split-Space Drivers?"

"Oh, of course. The next order of business is for you to begin the construction of a fleet capable of continued voyages between these two stars Admiral Kilm. The Merchant has collected the information of all of the operational ships in the Great Csillacra's reserves, however we are fully aware of the fact that some of them may be unsuitable for such a task. Similarly, we have collected information on the prospective captains, officers, and crewmembers of your flotilla."

The Merchant handed the relevant folders to Kilm, who was carefully analyzing the path set up on the map.

"I feel the need to remind you that your objective is to ferry as many individual Nekh of of their planet as is physically possible, not to design a fleet to transport supplies and soldiers. It follows that they do not need to group up."

"Do . . . do I have a manpower limit?"

"Officially?" The Marshall asked from his desk, still analyzing the Trawler. "Officially yes, five thousand. That being said, there would be little I could do if there happened to be an administrative mishap when you submitted your request, and one or two thousand more men than permitted found themselves under your command."

One or two thousand more than the five thousand marker. . . seven thousand men? Seven and a half if he pushed it? That would mean he could crew upwards of a hundred galleys of standard build? But how many people could he squeeze onto those galleys? How long would it take to travel back and forth? Kilm started sifting through some of the ships he had 'access' to. Most of them were anything but standard galleys, luxury boats of the rich, but they would work.

Oh boy would they work.

"How many ships can I use?"