Chapter Sixteen
Tiny Acorns
Nellie tapped her fingers on the table of the conference room, deciding she was spending way too much time in there as she did so. What they needed was some kind of meeting room. Salem had suggested a throne room. It was not a THRONE room like they already had, but a formal one with a normal throne. She had squashed that idea immediately.
Nellie was pretty sure that was why she was spending half her days in this room now. Salem was making a point.
Sighing, Nellie pulled up her meeting list and checked what this next one was about. There were so many these days that she was barely able to keep up. Of course, with her nanite-built brain, she could spin off a part of herself to keep track and prepare for these things, but it seemed like such a waste of brain power. Nellie was used to using her mind for important things. Things like building massive battleships, reorganizing their information flow, and so much more.
Not meetings.
Meetings, she had decided, were not very Nellie-like.
What the Imperium needed, she had decided, was a Chief Ambassador. More than that, it needed not to be her.
The last week or two had been meeting after meeting with this Ambassador, that Ambassador, and the other flaming Ambassador. All had the same mix of veiled threats and obvious ass-kissing. It was a death by a thousand cuts.
Even as she tried to remind herself that this mattered, that it would make the Imperium and her people safer, Nellie fought against the urge to just point out at the Harbinger and suggest they either leave the Imperium alone or face that in battle.
Salem had been clear that was not a productive approach. In fact, she reminded Nellie of that fact often enough to be insulting.
“New product for export?” Nellie groaned. “Why isn’t Berenice taking this meeting?”
“Because she is busy prepping for her mission,” Lucy replied as the door to the conference room opened, “But also because I missed you.”
Nellie leaped up, crossing the room to pull Lucy into a tight hug. They hadn’t been physically in the same room for weeks now. The recent issues between them still weighed heavy on both of their minds, and they had decided to take some time physically separated from each other to force them not to solve every issue the more physical way. Nellie was a big fan of make-up sex, but even she was willing to admit it wasn’t a healthy option in the long term.
“Besides, this is something you will want to see,” Lucy promised, pulling back from the hug.
“Fine,” Nellie sighed and went to sit back down. “Let’s get that out of the way so we can…”
“Bryant!” Lucy called back over her shoulder before she sat with a wicked smile on her face.
Nellie coughed and forced herself to focus on the man as he came in through the door. Bryant was a strange one. He usually struck her as a quiet, if not timid, man. At least, until trade was on the menu, and he became a slightly less energetic version of Berenice.
“Thank you for seeing me on such short notice,” Bryant bobbed a bow to both of them. “But after Emissary Cheape contacted Queen Lucy, and she contacted me, I thought it best to get clearance immediately.”
“Breathe, Bryant,” Nellie said kindly.
“Of course, Your Highness,” Bryant said, still barely pausing for breath. “Now, this item is a little unusual, but I think it will be accepted very quickly throughout the neighboring systems. We might need to consider a more flexible version at a later date for the less humanoid species, but I think we should be able to make do with this for the next several months at least.”
Lucy sighed. “You forgot to mention what the item was, Bryant.”
“Hmm?” Bryant blinked, clearly already planning sales strategies. “Oh, forgive me.”
Nellie watched as he put a small box on the table and extracted a set of goggles and gloves from inside.
“Allow me to explain…”
Nellie turned them over in her hands, watching the shifting auras of the electronics within. They were simple, elegant, and, more than anything else, familiar. She smiled when she realized what made her so nostalgic.
“There are no nanites in this,” Nellie marveled.
“No, Your Highness,” Bryant confirmed. “There does not seem to be a need for them.”
It had been ages since she saw anything that wasn’t swarming with the nanites. Even this station had rivers of them flowing through the walls. The goggles and gloves were more like something from Earth. A lot more advanced, obviously, but still Earth-like.
“Okay, it is a very well-designed product, but tell me why you think it needs entire production facilities dedicated to it?” Nellie was well aware of how tight space was on the Bly’s Rest. “What does it actually do?”
“It offers a complete education from start to finish,” Bryant said excitedly. “With that single unit, a child could work through the equivalent of ten years worth of even Sagacity level schooling.”
Nellie blinked at him for a moment. “Complete? How complete?”
“I looked it over myself,” Lucy said with a smug smile, “It covers all the basics, everything a person needs to know. By your standards, it would cover kindergarten all the way up to about the first two years of college. Some subjects relating to shipboard skills are actually enough to give complete competency.”
“So this,” Nellie held up the set of goggles in wonder, “Is a complete education package in one go?”
“Effectively, yes,” Lucy nodded.
“How?” Nellie didn’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth, but this was too good to be true. “Where did we get that kind of prepared coursework?”
“That is somewhat of the sticking point,” Bryant grinned weakly. “The original materials were obtained from the Sagacity by Marshall Crush.”
“The learning things?” Nellie asked.
“Exactly,” Bryant nodded. “Although the material has been extensively modified since then.”
“How did Cheape get hold of that stuff?” Nellie asked. “I returned them all.”
“We had scans,” Lucy said with a shrug. “I included a modified version of them in the database. Cheape evidently found the things, made some up, and one thing kind of led to another.”
“So this is stolen technology?” Nellie asked.
“We have rather a lot of previously proprietary technology in the Imperium,” Lucy said. “Some recovered from converted ships, some brought in with the various groups that joined, and so on.”
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“Ahh, right,” Nellie looked at the goggles again. “Can people tell this was originally Sagacity tech?”
“Tell?” Bryant asked thoughtfully. “Probably. Prove? Absolutely not.” He grinned like a shark. “The algorithms are different, the design is different, and the focus is completely antithetical to the approach of the Sagacity. At best, they could claim this was inspired by their tech and courses, but they are different enough that it would be impossible to prove otherwise.” He coughed. “If I may, these were products given to us in a legal, fair, and open trade. Anything contained within became our legal property. That the Sagacity assumed we would be unable to copy it for our own purposes is not our fault or legal liability.”
“You really have been learning from Berenice, haven’t you?” Nellie chuckled. “So we can actually sell these.”
“Absolutely,” Bryant insisted. “There are no legal issues; I’ve checked.”
“So, let’s get on to the specifics,” Lucy said, leaning forward.
/===<<<>>>===\
Crush-Cha ran his hand over the side of the ‘Fair Weather,’ feeling the strange pull on his skin that indicated the nanites beneath. A lot had been done to the ship that would be acting as their home for the next few weeks.
“You might have mentioned you only wanted my ship’s ID beacon,” Colby grumped. The man was slumped in the corner of the landing bay, grimacing as the nanites in the cruiser formerly known as the ‘Taking Liberties’ was converted into a trading vessel. Unlike in their last mission, this was more than a cosmetic change. They were actually altering the ship’s structure to match their new, and so far unseen outside of the Imperium, freighter-class vessels.
“Oh, we wanted much more than that,” Sec cheered as an Orb craft towered the original I.P.A. ship into the neighboring hangar bay. He started tapping away at a control panel before the other bay began to leak long silver lines of nanites.
“What are you doing, Sec?” Crush knew that excited look. It was the same look Sec had before the little bastard had tried to steal a few cruisers to make the Taking Liberties.
“Huh?” Sec pretended not to hear.
“Sec!” Crush warned. “Step away from the controls. Right now.”
“Oh, right,” Sec stepped back, arms up as he turned a beaming, innocent smile written across his face. “Problem?”
Crush narrowed his eyes suspiciously and started to walk towards the renegade Cent but was much too slow. He heard Colby yell out in shock and looked up in time to see the former Fair Weather starting to shift and listen.
None of the lines of nanites were visible.
“Stop it right now,” Crush warned.
“Stop what, Boss?” Sec asked innocently. “I am doing nothing.”
“Whatever it is you did, undo it,” Crush warned. “Last chance.”
“Too late!” Sec cheered as he stood aside to show the ship had changed entirely. Before, it had been an aging, overgrown shuttle with an Exo-Drive bolted on. Now, it was a sleek, needle-like affair with massive thrusters and what appeared to be a pair of miniaturized railguns on the wings.
“What the hell is that?” Crush demanded.
“An Express Courier!” Sec cheered. “You promised!”
Crush felt himself grinding his teeth together. The little bugger had a point. Crush had promised they would do that next time they had an undercover mission. It had just slipped his mind with the planning going on.
“Look, look,” Sec said quickly. “This ship can dock with the Fair Weather and then do short runs around the system, at least, at first. Plus, if we need to make an escape, we need something fast, right? Also, it can work as a fighter, but most of all, you promised, and you aren’t allowed to break promises!”
“We were supposed to return it to Colby once we are done!” Crush pointed out.
“So, he can have it when we are done, or we can give him one of our freighters,” Sec shrugged. “That ship was a piece of shit before I fixed it.”
“How fast can it go?”
Crush heard Colby’s voice from behind him. He turned to see the man walking slowly across the deck plateing, eyes fixed on the new ship.
“I am not sure it even has a top speed,” Sec admitted thoughtfully. “I mean, I had to strengthen it so much, but I guess, in theory, it would come apart long before it topped out the engines.”
“That fast,” Colby’s eyes were shining. “Really?”
“Oh, yes,” Sec wandered over, draping an arm over the man’s shoulders. “And it has shields that could shrug off a destroyer’s full load. Only once, though. After that, they will need to recharge.”
“If they can hit you twice, it’s your own fault,” Colby waved the worry away.
“You know,” Sec said happily. “I think you and I are going to get along great, Colby. I really do.” He clicked his fingers, and the doors between the two bays retracted. “Let me give you the tour.”
Crush took a few seconds to stare at the pair and then decided it wasn’t his problem right now. Colby owned the ship, and he wasn’t complaining. Still, Crush would have to come up with some fitting punishment for the Cent.
Cara would think of something. She was inventive like that. Vicious, unrelenting, merciless, but always fair. She was a natural-born Drill Sargeant, but she made a hell of a Marshall as well.
The rest of the crew trailed in over the next hour, with Quad and Tri arriving first. Tri actually made it several steps into the bay before being drawn to the new ship like a moth to a flame.
“Got the supplies, Boss,” Quad grunted. He was carrying two crates of the Imperium’s Pulse Rifles. The flesh suits Edwards had designed for these Cents included a way for them to customize to the personality of the individual Cents, and that certainly happened with Quad. He now looked like a disreputable bodybuilder with thick, corded muscles and visible veins showing on every bit of spare skin. His hands were already scarred, and tattoos covered his body. The thick hair on his head was cut short, and a large beard had sprouted on his square chin. The biggest surprise, however, was the overall effect. He should have looked like a walking wanted poster. Instead, he looked like everyone’s big brother.
“Did you bring anything other than rifles?” Crush grinned at the big man.
“Of course,” Quad nodded. “I got pistols, too.”
“Stow them somewhere handy, yeah?” Crush nodded Quad into the ship.
“You got it!” Quad stepped inside as their last Cent Marshall arrived.
Prim was complicated.
She had started out with the typical bombshell look. Her like was found in every entertainment cube he had ever seen, but that hadn’t stuck. There was a lot of Salem in her, and that had begun to show. That long red hair was now tucked back in a ponytail most of the time, and her face had filled out a little. She still looked good, but it was a more honest look these days. Her figure was still likely to draw stares, but at least she wore more clothing these days. If Crush were to put a name to the look, it would be the difference between a bombshell and a vixen. Her eyes twinkled with mischief at all times, and only bitter experience would teach those she met that it was THEM she was laughing at.
She was, if he was honest, a bit of a bitch. He liked the new her a lot, in other words.
“Hey, Prim,” Crush called.
“What are the idiots doing?” Prim asked, pointing at Sec and Tri.
“Sec made some changes to the I.P.A. ship,” Crush said, trying to keep the anger out of his voice. The smirk Prim made suggested he had failed. “You ready to go?”
“Absolutely,” Prim nodded. “Locked, loaded, and I even brought earplugs for if Berenice insists on talking to me!” She laughed and walked on board.
Berenice arrived in the hangar with several people following her, all taking notes as she appeared to be having several conversations at once. She shooed them all away just before she arrived in front of Crush.
“Hey, Crush,” Berenice huffed. “Is this going to be a quick trip? I need to get back here soon. Bryant is going to be swamped without me, thanks to Cheape.” She sighed but then smiled brightly.
“I wouldn’t count on it,” Crush shook his head. “We need to work up to this one.”
“Fair enough,” Berenice looked wistful for a moment. “I really enjoy launching a new product, as well.”
“Sorry, but we need you on this one,” Crush said truthfully. “We need to work with people, make connections, and that means we need to trade.”
“Should be fun!” Berenice said, seeming to forget her regrets of a second ago. “A whole new society awaits.” She nodded and strode on board.
“And may the stars help them once you get there,” Crush chuckled to himself.
He whistled loudly to get everyone’s attention. “Load up! We are leaving in five!”
“I did think they would actually come and see me off,” Colby said quietly as they pushed away from the Rest and headed for the Sagacity system nearest Confed space. “At least the Ambassador.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Cara called. “Worry about getting shot by the Confeds instead.”
“Nice, Cara,” Prim chuckled. “Why not just kick him as you pass.”
“I’m serious,” Cara replied. “Everyone. We are about to go behind enemy lines again, and the Confeds are going to be paranoid, anxious, and quick to anger. The Imperial Line was arrogant. We can’t rely on that this time.”
“She’s right,” Crush added. “Heads on a swivel, all of you.” He looked over to see Colby still staring back the way they had come and sent Berenice a message.
Crush: See if you can get Colby something to do. He needs to be kept distracted for a while.
Berenice: Why me? Can’t Cara, no, never mind. What about one of the Cents? No, forget I even said that. FINE. I could use an assistant for a bit, I guess.
Crush: Thank you.
That dealt with Crush dove back into the information packets Remy and Hellena had prepared for them. They needed to get this right.